ARC-V – Roar of the Dragons: Standard Season
by SurvivorTierEXO
Summary: Book 1: People say everyone can smile. Of course, that is not the case or easy for Yasuko Yukihana, the new transfer student from Tokyo. What's her problem? She doesn't smile. Yasuko is an introverted girl who doesn't smile. That looks like a task Yuya Sakaki can handle, right? Well, he's going have to do a lot more than just his friendship and his Dueltainment to make her smile.
1. Chapter 1: Welcome to Maiami City

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OC that will be involved in this series.**

* * *

Chapter _1: Welcome to_ Maiami _City_

* * *

From the horizon of the glorious Maiami City, there was an empty bus stop out of downtown from the city. The bus stop stands empty with no passengers to drop off until a public bus came to a halt. The doors hissed open and two footsteps hit the ground before the bus moves out of to reveal a girl was drop off at the stop. She was practically fifteen-years-old with blue eyes and medium-length deep forest green hair tied in low pigtails. She wore jeans with brown ankle boots and a black jacket vest that goes over her black striped long sleeve shirt. She also has a drop leg holster for her Duel disk that resembles a lot like how firearms are holstered. She looks onward around her area to the city skylines.

"Welcome to Maiami City," the girl said, almost to herself. She walked out of the bus stop to look at the metropolitan city from a hill.

Her eyes set at the river connecting all the way to the ocean. The air breeze flew by her hair swaying at the winds. The city was buzzing with many things for her to do. She has to other things to do, like go to an address that her previous house sitter had sent her. It was a relative to who her 'mother' was in, so she could make out the view once she found herself a place to stay. She picks up her travel bag along with her backpack and starts walking down the street.

It wasn't long before she comes to a downtown area where people walk past her. The cars roll on the streets. Kids were playing at some designated playgrounds. It was common, but that's. it what made the town so special. What's been around the girl was so many advertisements for Dueling. Every building and billboard has so many advertisements for their Duel schools that run the entire town.

She had no idea of where she was going, but the city was brand new to her that she may be lost. Regardless, she reviewed her house. She walked on to get to her number apartment as she makes her way towards a street around the corner. As she turned to the other side—

BONG!

She and the other person crashed with each other, dropping her bags, and spilled her stuff everywhere on the floor.

"Oh no!" She makes a disgusted sound. "Watch where you're going, you idiot! Now, look what you've done!" She frantically picks up her stuff on the ground. "You shouldn't be bumping into someone like that."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I wasn't looking alright!" The voice sounded like a boy around her age. "Here, let me help…" The boys help down to pick up the rest of the goods that were on the ground. She dusts off a few pebbles from her book before she stands up and saw that the stranger had finished picking up some of her items. He was a practically around her age, a young teenage boy with spiky, crimson red, and green hair mixed on top with one spike pointing upwards. He wore a pair of gold goggles over his head with the right lens having a blue star.

"Here…" The boy offered her some books she dropped. She reluctantly takes them without saying anything and shoves them in her traveling bag. The boy noticed something on her. He was looking at her duel disk holster on her left leg.

"You're a duelist, aren't you?" the boy asked. The girl took notice and look at her duel holster before shrugging.

"Yep, I'm just passing by, nothing more." said the girl. She looks at the boy in front of her and saw that his eyes were also crimson red just like his hair.

"What were you doing, bumping into someone like that?" she asked.

"I was uh…" the boy trailed off, starting to look down. She happens to notice his sudden depressing face and started to ask, "Why are you sad?"

"Huh?" said the boy.

"I can tell by the sighing and by that look in the eyes of yours." said the girl. "Most people usually excuse themselves when they bump into another person, but you looked dim, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing really." the boy immediately dismissed the issue, but he can't let it go. "I'm sorry for bumping into you, so bye." He then quickly runs off, leaving the girl alone with nothing to consider. She frowned at his stubbornness.

"Geez, what's his problem?" she scolded. She bends over to pick up her travel bag when an object reflected something on the ground. "What's this?" she inquired. She picks it up and finds that she found what appears to be a jewelry but not just any kind; it was a pendant. She pondered that this doesn't belong to her, so she assumed that it must be the boy she bumped into. She examines the beauty of the jewel. Normally, a finder's keeper rule would apply, but she looks back to the direction where the boy just ran off.

"Hey, wait!" the girl called to the boy.

* * *

The boy was retreating from all the pressure that he had to go through back at the You Show Duel school. He was retreating himself to somewhere in the opening, a bridge where he can make out the view of Maiami City. He stopped when he makes it to the bridge. He was about to pick up his pendant from his neck when he noticed that it was gone. He lay his hands flat on his chest to find any solid feeling of his pendant, but it was gone.

"Ah! My pendulum!" he gasped, searching his pockets or his shirt. "Where is my pendulum?!" He panicked searching frantically for his pendant.

"Hey, boy!" A loud girl's voice called to him. He turns around and finds the same girl he bumped into running toward him. She breathes heavily from exhaustion, due to carrying two bags in her. "The next time… you bump into someone… don't forget your belongings." She panted, dropping her bags and picks out the pendant from her pocket. The boy notices the pendant the girl was holding.

"Where did you found that?" he asked.

"I found it on the ground where you hit me," she explained, jabbing her thumb back at the street. "I was about to keep it, but it would be rude for someone like you who is getting sappy, and you run really fast."

"I wasn't getting sappy, but…" He stretched his hand out for the pendant. "Thanks anyway…" He takes the pendant and looks at it to make sure that it was not damaged. While he was staring at the jewel, the girl was looking at him.

"That's a beautiful pendant by the way," she commented the boy's pendant.

"Huh? Oh, thanks." the boy replies back, looking at the pendant with nostalgic.

"Where did you get it?" she asked.

"It belonged to my dad."

"Your dad?" The girl asked again, taking a seat by the railing.

"Yeah. My Dad," he smiled wanly in memory of his father.

"What's his name?"

"His name was Yusho Sakaki," The boy revealed.

"Yusho Sakaki?"

"Yeah. He was the greatest Entertainment Duelist that everyone has ever known. He always things that amazes the people and he was the greatest dad I ever had," the boy smiled with some reminiscing He turned back to the girl. "Have you heard of him?"

"Nope," said the girl.

The boy grew shocked when he found out that she does not know who Yusho Sakaki is. "What, you mean...you don't know who Yusho Sakaki is?" The boy inquired.

"For the record, I just got here like… ten minutes ago," the girl clarified. The boy paused reluctantly, figuring out what makes her not know about Yusho. "But hearing that from you would say he must be a genius for someone who can do tricks." she commented.

"Of course, he is." The boy turned to her on the railing. "By the way, what's your name?" he asked.

"Yasuko," the girl answered. "Yasuko Yukihana." The girl introduced her name to the boy. "What's yours?" she asked for the boy's name and he reply.

"Yuya. Yuya Sakaki," the boy introduces himself.

"Sakaki? So, if you're Sakaki, does that mean that you are Yusho Sakaki's son?"

Yuya smiled, nodding his head as a confirmation of his identity. "Yes I am," said Yuya.

"For someone who believes in Entertainment. I'd say you're not much of a looker," Yasuko commented blankly.

Yuya was caught on and started to get insulted. "What do you mean I'm not a looker?" Yuya inquired, gesturing his hands.

"I'm not saying that you're ugly or anything, I'm just saying that because I feel like it," Yasuko said blankly.

Yuya looks at her incredulously. "I kind of find that insulting," Yuya assumed.

"I don't make an insult unless it appears to be insulting." Yasuko blows bang from the side of her hair. "But on to the more important part: what were you running away from?"

Yuya found that to be a misunderstanding question as he tries to settle the reason. "I'm not running away. I just need to get away from things," he excused.

"That's running away, bub," Yasuko replied, disbelief about his real problem. "Just out with it. What's wrong? You know problems are always gonna follow until you scrape them out of your shoe," she asked him the same question since she got here. "I can separate the lies from the truth, boy." Yuya looks down even more, understanding that she isn't going anywhere unless he confessed what was wrong.

"It's… it's just that, I've been asked to go and duel Strong Ishijima, the Sledgehammer." Yuya started to answer her question.

"Who's he?" Yasuko asked.

"What?" Yuya was even more surprised when Yasuko dismissed the identity of Strong Ishijima. "You mean you never heard of the Sledgehammer?"

Yasuko puckered her cheeks and frowns at Yuya. "Weren't you listening?" Yasuko questioned firmly. "I left the bus stop several minutes ago and the next thing, you happened to come by, bumped me and now you're telling me who Sledgehammer is? My God, this town is just getting crazy," she complained.

Yuya stroked a ping, suddenly recalled the moment where he first met her. He chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Ooops, sorry about before, I guess I was in the mood," Yuya excused. "But seriously, you _really_ never heard of him?"

"Does the word, "I don't know," mean anything to you?" Yasuko questioned. Yuya nodded to give her a get understandable agreement.

"I guess so…" Yuya then hops over to take a seat at the railing as he explained the whole story. "You see, three years ago, Strong Ishijima challenged my dad to see who the greatest duelist champion is. My dad always duels with the skills of performing amazing tricks, magic, and even circus acting. He was a Dueltainer. The best Dueltainer that everyone admires. One day, Strong Ishijima. challenged him to a duel, but…" Yuya paused there, not wishing to recall the exact moment of his life where things went downhill from there.

"But what? Did something happen?" Yasuko asked, wishing to learn more about his father.

"He disappeared three years ago…" Yuya revealed. "He never came back. He was gone for good."

Yasuko seems to be understanding something like this. She sees the son missed his father. She could see his hands clasping together, fitting its grip as if this was a burden to him. "Is he dead?" Yasuko inquired, getting a shock expression from his face.

"What are you saying?! Of course, he's not dead!" Yuya exclaimed.

Yasuko held her hands in defense. "Hey, that's what I'm assuming, but if he isn't dead, then do you know where he is?"

Yuya shakes his head disappointedly. Sadly, Yuya doesn't even know where his dad went. "I don't know." Yuya stares out in the sea river where he could see the Duel Arena for famous championships and tournaments. "I don't even know where he's gone to. He just got out and vanished without a trace." Yasuko could see something like her experience. Yuya is not only depressed about his father, and this is a feeling that she had longed been taking.

"Don't worry about it Yuya," Yasuko reassures him. "Wherever he may be, he's still around somewhere and that is a good thing too."

"How?"

"Well…" Yasuko looked at the other direction in curiosity. "For starters, you can have a father or a mother, but if you have many friends and foes, then you can continue to retain what you believe in. I'm sure that you might see him again."

"Yeah, you're right." Yuya started to look back at his pendant. "I believed in everything my father taught me, so I can't be sad for the exhibition match today."

"Exhibition match?" Yasuko inquired.

"Oh, right, I'm dueling the Sledgehammer, so that means…" As Yuya started to explain more about his match, he suddenly hit his head when he realized that he has his match with Strong Ishijima.

"Oh crap!" Yuya panicked, holding his head. "I forgot! Today's the match that I must match the Sledgehammer! Oh man! Oh man! Oh man, I'm late!" Yuya started to take pace to sprint back to his home. "I gotta go! It was nice meeting you, Yasuko! I'll see ya around!" Yuya concluded to the girl before he runs off to somewhere from the bridge.

All Yasuko can do was watching him speed away until he was nowhere to be seen, much to her dumbfounded look. Yasuko could only make out the possibility that her first person she met in this city was seriously weird. "What the hell was that about?" Yasuko asked, more likely herself.

* * *

A fter Yasuko met Yuya, she returns to her usual routine in finding the address she was supposed to live in until she graduates. She walks down a street that leads to the giant tower with the name 'LDS' in the top. She never knew how famous this town was for its dueling, but she ignores most of the things around her and wanted a place to sit and sleep for the day. So far, she wasn't having any luck to find her new home.

"My god, how hard is it to find address with no one knowing the place?" Yasuko complained, watching the billboards on top of her posted with various Duel monsters she does not know.

"I should've asked that Yuya boy about this location I was supposed to go," she complained to herself for not asking the boy she met. Yasuko stops by in front of a map on a bus station that had most of the streets and the names of the places that she needs to know. She draws her finger, examining the streets carefully to find the location of where she would be staying. While examining the streets, she draws her address to the one place where she was supposed to go.

"Bingo…" said Yasuko. She picks up her bags and walks off to follow the street that leads her to the address.

"Come on! Hurry! Yuya's probably at the stadium right now!" A cry of despair ringed her ears. She turns towards the sound and saw three people running past her.

First, there was a large man who wore an orange jumper jacket and red sweatpants, the second was another man with a red bandana around his forehead while wearing something that is more like to be a karate shirt and pants along with a pair of sandals that goes higher than the ground, and lastly, was someone that made a ping in her mind.

A young teenage girl came running past her. She had blue eyes and purple hair with two pink highlight bangs in front of her face.

"We're coming, alright!" the girl called, trying to keep in pace with the others.

Yasuko could only watch them hurrying up to somewhere that called a Dueling Arena. She was even more confused than before. First, she met this Yuya Sakaki and he proclaimed that he would be dueling the reigning champion, then there were a bunch of people running to somewhere in this city that had some kind of an arena. This was weird for her.

"Okay, what the hell's been going on around here?"

Yasuko took a while for the resident to even think about her arrival. She was standing in front of a house that is just like an apartment building. A typical roof and an ordinary door with windows for the second floor and there was a garden window on the second floor. She wrestles her bag around a small gate that leads her to the front door, knocking twice loudly.

"Hello? Is anyone home? It's me, Yasuko Yukihana, the transfer student." she announced her name. She waited for several minutes if there is anyone, but it may take a longer than expected. As she waited, she heard a door unlocking and someone opened the door.

It was a middle age woman with brown hair and hazel eyes, wearing a flower apron.

"Are you Ms. Luciana?" Yasuko asked. "Diana Luciana?" The woman, Diana, smiles at Yasuko have gives her a nod to confirm she is the person that she's staying.

"Yes, I am., Diana said. "And you must be the child that your grandparents sent, right? I heard that you were Yasuko Yukihana, and I went for the door."

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Luciana." Yasuko picks up her bags and enters the house. She had some expectations of an ordinary house when she saw the outside, but on the inside, she was somehow surprised. The house had three couches settled in the living room with a dining table in the middle. A vase was full of flowers, a photo album book in the corner, and even a big screen TV.

"Wow, for someone who lives in an ordinary house, you happened to be a stylist, Yasuko commented.

"It's what I do best to keep myself roomy." Ms. Luciana smiled, "Anyways, you can leave your bag in the living room and rest up. I'm just about to make you some lunch because you had to walk all the way here."

"Thank you, Ms. Luciana, I appreciate it." Yasuko lifts one of her legs to remove her shoe lace from her ankle boots before she unlaced another one. She puts them aside with the rest of the shoes, removing her duel disk holster, and drops down at the couches like a sloth. She turns on the TV and starts to channel surf through various shows that are nothing good to watch.

"Man, I'm beat, I had some weird day for the rest of the week," Yasuko commented, stretching out her hand for the remote.

"How so?" Diana asked.

"There was this idiotic boy I bumped into today and spilled my bags all over," Yasuko recalled.

"Ouch, was it bad?"

"Not really, I could say that the boy was someone a nutjob for not looking at where he was going…" Yasuko paused, started to get onto the other side of the story. "But then… he was also sad when I first met him. I don't know what's his deal, but it had to do with something about his father disappearing three years ago…" Diana came back to the living room from the kitchen with a plate of sandwiches she had made for the girl.

"Disappeared. His father?"

"Yeah, Yusho Sakaki." From the name' Yusho Sakaki,' Diana suddenly gasped with her mouth opening wide enough for her to be a screamer.

"Yusho Sakaki, as in... Yusho Sakaki the Dueltainer!" Yasuko raised an eyebrow, growing more confused with this Dueltainer legend thing.

"Yeah..." Yasuko doesn't seem to care much about this guy Yuya mentioned earlier. "What's the big deal about it? He's just a pro-Duelist legend like everyone else."

"A big deal? You have no idea who Yusho Sakaki is?" Diana inquired.

"I don't really know much about him, so if you do, can you fill me in on who he is?" Yasuko demanded bluntly.

"Yusho Sakaki is the number one Dueltainer in the world." Diana said impressively. "He is the magician of the ARC system and the most talented man who ever lived." Diana opens a drawer and swapped a magazine. She throws it on the table for Yasuko to look at. She takes the magazine and held it in front of her to examine the man in the cover. She was astonished of who Yusho is. He was a very handsome man with black hair tinted in inky-green shading and a purple top hat with green goggles on the bottom side. Unlike Yuya's crimson red eyes, he has golden eyes, a slight mustache and goatee. He wore a red jacket and pants over an orange waistcoat.

"Wow… he's hot." Yasuko commented. She would've imagine if Yuya is an actual splitting image of his father, then she would be swooned over him.

"But so what? He's just a magician for dueling, those are really common for most of the time," Yasuko dismissed it and throws the magazine aside, continuing to watch TV. "I don't see the point in making it a legend, despite his looks."

"Well, that's too bad then," Diana sighed. "He vanished three years ago and left his wife along with his son."

"Yuya Sakaki?" Yasuko assumed. Diana was caught on by her prior knowledge.

"How'd you know that?"

"Because I've just met him," Yasuko admits her encounter with the boy.

"Oh, so have you heard about his match today?" Diana

"The exhibition match he talked about?" Yasuko inquired. "What's this exhibition match that's going on?"

"Oh, right… well, today, he's having a match with the current reigning champion of Maiami City, Strong Ishijima, the Sledgehammer." Diana looked at her clock. "And just to be on top of that, it's probably starting right now."

"Well, let's just see a duel for a change, I could get used to the customs here." Yasuko changed the channel one more time before she stops at the live feed of the dueling arena.

"You fans have been clamoring for this fuel and now, it's finally happening!" Yasuko listened to the man's announcement who is making his debut about the match setup. "Three years ago, the Dueltainer, Yusho Sakaki, failed to defend his title against Strong Ishijima, the Sledgehammer. Now, his son, Yuya Sakaki, will try to embrace that disgrace with a Duel." The spokesman, Nico Smiley, announced to the crowd about the duel.

"Well, this ought to be good…" said Yasuko, supporting her head with her elbow.

"A match between the son of Yusho Sakaki and Strong Ishijima, the Sledgehammer, I just hope the boy would be alright." Diana takes a seat next to her to watch the match.

"Alrighty then, let's get this grudge match underway." Nico Smiley announced as he draws his finger for a card to materials in his tips. "Time to activate the Field Spell, Castle of Chaos!" He raised his hand for the card to activate the Solid Vision arena. Lights illuminate the entire field with every square inch of the land being transformed before their very eyes.

"That's pretty awesome," Yasuko commented. She watched as she could see the entire field being transformed into the exact copy of the card. Strong Ishijima aka the Sledgehammer was being announced to the front of the crowd while Yuya was supposed to make an entrance; however, he did not show as he was as somehow absence.

"Oh dear…" Diana said worryingly. "I thought somehow this would turn out like this. He's just like his father, running away from something he cannot handle." Yasuko wanted to believe it until she spotted a clown sneaking behind Ishijima. She somehow finds this to be very intimidating before the Sledgehammer noticed this and been made of a fool to even see this coming. The clown reveals itself to be Yuya Sakaki in a clown costume.

"I can't believe he would do something like that…" Yasuko said irritably.

"Well, you know how Dueltainment works." Diana commented.

"No, I don't, so if you like, I need to know the basic duels around this town," Yasuko suggested. "I'm not too kin familiar with it."

"Why of course." Diana insisted. "I'd be happy to." Yasuko takes a sandwich while she watches the duel between Yuya and Strong Ishijima.

 **Yuya Sakaki (LP: 4000) (5x Cards)**

 **VS**

 **Strong Ishijima (LP: 4000) (5x Cards)**

"Well for starters, Action Duels are based on coordination between using the field to your advantage while searching for cards that are called Action Cards." Diana explained while watching Yuya taking his first turn.

 **Turn 1: Yuya**

For his first move, Yuya takes off by grabbing onto a railing and rappels down while he summons **Performapal Hip Hippo (ATK 800/DEF 800)**. A pink hippo with a magician's hat and a vest pops out to give Yuya a ride.

"Action Cards?" Yasuko asked.

 **Turn 2: The Sledgehammer**

"Yeah, Action Cards are Spell and Trap Cards that are scattered everywhere across the field and Duelists must obtain those cards if they need to take their opponents by surprise." Diana continues to explain more about the art of Action Duels.

While Diana was talking about Action Duels, the Sledgehammer activates the **Feast of the Wild LV5** Spell Card, allowing him to special summon two Level 5 Warrior-Type monsters from his hand, but their effects are negated, and they cannot attack, so he special summons **Swamp Battleguard (ATK 1800/DEF 1500)** and **Lava Battleguard (ATK 1550/DEF 1800)** in Attack Position. Two behemoth monsters, red and green, rose beside the Sledgehammer before falling in the sky. He makes them as tributes to a tribute summon to call out **Battleguard King (ATK 3000/DEF 1100)**. When he summons the monster, the two Battleguard monsters disappeared before they materialized together to form a ginormous behemoth king that rose from the forest area with its giant club to smash even Yuya and his hippo.

"So, the goal is to find all of them, right?" Yasuko asked.

"Not quite." Diana corrected.

Strong Ishijima uses his **Battleguard King** to attack **Hip Hippo**. The monstrous behemoth raised its giant club in its palms and prepares to smash the poor hippo. Just as it was about to hit the hippo, Yuya swaps an Action Card called **Evasion** , which negates the attack. The hippo does a rolling side flip to dodge the attack while carrying Yuya on its back.

"Wow, he just used an Action Cards just like that?" Yasuko inquired, impressed over the usage of the Action Cards while taking another sandwich.

"Yeah, as I said, Action cards give you the advantage over your opponents if you can find them in the field." Diana continued. "That's how Action Duels work. It's like a scavenger hunt while dueling. The cards were scattered across the field, you find them, and you can use them."

"So, the more you have them, the more you can get to use them," Yasuko asked.

"Not really, there are a limited number of Action cards that a Duelist can obtain," Diana informed. "So, even if you managed to find one of them, you can't have more than one Action Card."

"Ohhh…" Yasuko was getting more knowledge about how these Action Cards work in Action Duels.

 **Battleguard King** was tribute summoned using at least 1 "Battleguard" monster, so it can attack again if the attack target is a monster. Strong Ishijima makes **Battleguard King** Attack **Hip Hippo** again. The behemoth king raised its club once more to make a sudden smash for the hippo. It brought down the club with all its might and makes a giant dust storm that nearly blew the audience away.

"Then you can only have one Action Card then." Yasuko clarified. "Can you hold onto it until your next turn or does it have to be immediately?"

Yasuko saw Yuya running back on track with his Hip Hippo intact thanks to finding and activating another Action Card, **Miracle** , which prevents his monster's destruction by battle and halving the battle damage.

 **(** **Yuya: 4000 → 2900 LP** **)**

The Sledgehammer sets a card face down and ends his turn.

"Of course, Action Spell Cards are like Spell Cards, they can be added to the hand, and be used whenever you feel it's necessary," Diana explained.

 **Turn 3: Yuya**

Yuya draws a card and explains **Hip Hippo** special effect, which treats itself as two monsters for the count of a Tribute Summon. He sends his hippo running off the pillar runway to make a tribute summoning. Yuya summons his most priced ace-in-the-hole monster, the **Odd-Eyes Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. Yuya summons a dragon that doesn't have wings, but a slim scaly beast with a predominate magenta body, red armor, cream bones on the bones and heterochromia eyes; the left was red while the rightness green.

Upon the summoning of —maybe—most beautiful beast she had ever seen, Yasuko halts her hand on taking another piece of her sandwich because she was seeing a dragon she somehow recognized it from before. Her mouth made a small gape as she saw the dragon. The way the eyes looked, it resembles something she has. She felt a small ping that rang through the back of her head. A ping that chimes like bells. All her eyes focused on the dragon that Yuya summoned.

"That dragon…" she whispered. "Odd-Eyes? What the hell …?" She kept her eyes at Odd-Eyes Dragon in a trance-like state that Diana noticed how she was ignoring her explanation about Action Duels.

"Yasuko...Yasuko." Diana snapped Yasuko out of her thoughts as she shakes her head a bit to get back.

"Huh, yeah what?"

"Are you listening?" Diana asked.

"Oh um… yeah." Yasuko nodded, taking her another piece of her sandwich, and focusing back on the duel. She watched Yuya activating a spell card, **Wonder Balloons** , which allows him to send cards from his hand to the Graveyard to place a counter on it. He scouts ahead to find three Action Cards and sends them to the Graveyard, placing three counters on it. Yuya then activates the second effect of **Wonder Balloons**.

By sending it to the Graveyard, he can target **Battleguard King** to lose 1000 ATK points for every counter placed on it until the end of the turn. Yuya sends the card to the graveyard and three Wonder Counters pops around Battleguard King, which traps it in a balloon body, rendering it useless without its ATK points.

 **(Battleguard King: ATK 3000 → ATK 0/DEF 1100)**.

"Looks like this could end the show with a bang," Yasuko commented.

"How so?" Diana asked.

"If this dragon could deal a direct damage to Strong Ishijima, then he may not only lose 2500 LP, but he'll lose more if that beast has an ability that could give him a short victory." Yasuko calculated the possible idea of where this duel will end.

"I guess you did the math correctly, huh?" Diana inquired.

"I guess so…" Yasuko shrugged.

Diana started to explain more about what Entertainment Duel is while Yuya makes his move by attacking **Battleguard King** with his **Odd Eyes**. Trapped in the Wonder Balloons, the beast stood no chance compared to the attack points and the dragon fires a red spiraling beam at **Battleguard King**. The beast seemed to be gone in the explosion, but to their surprise, the behemoth remains intact thanks to the Action Card, **Miracle**.

 **(The Sledgehammer: 4000 → 2750 LP)**.

"Damn, he was just so close, yet Strong man Ishijima is one step ahead." said Yasuko, eating the last piece of a sandwich.

"He is known to be the reigning champion so far." Diana commented.

The Sledgehammer activates his face-down, the **Battleguard Rage** Trap Card as he took battle damage, it increases Battleguard King's ATK by 2000 **(Battleguard King: 0 → ATK 2000/DEF 1100)**.

Because of this, Yuya ends his turn and the effects of Wonder Balloon wears off, giving the monster back its original ATK.

 **(Battleguard King: 2000 → ATK 5000/DEF 1100).**

 **Turn 4: The Sledgehammer**

With all its ATK returned, the Sledgehammer can attack Odd-Eyes Dragon with his Battleguard King. Yuya and Odd-Eyes breaks off to find an Action Card before the behemoth king can destroy the dragon. Yuya spotted somewhere in the field and tried to get the Action Card, but the attack from Battleguard King clobbers Odd-Eyes with its club before he can get the card

 **(Yuya: 2900 → 400 LP)**.

Yasuko would cringe at his attempt if she gives him credit for trying.

Because of Battleguard Rage, Odd-Eyes Dragon returns to Yuya's hand instead of going to the Graveyard, but the Sledgehammer activates **Battleguard Magic** , a spell card that increases his LP equal to half of the ATK of the monster that was returned to the hand. Odd-Eyes had only 1250 ATK, which regains the Sledgehammer its original LP from the start.

 **(The Sledgehammer: 2750 → 4000 LP).**

The Sledgehammer placed a face-down card and ends his turn. Yasuko could've imagined what this would do to the boy. She gives him her utmost sympathy for his efforts to defends his father's honor.

"And with that, it's game over," Yasuko remarked before getting off the couch, looking down at Diana. "I'm going to my room, alright Ms. Luciana," said Yasuko.

Diana nodded, understanding that watching this Duel is utterly pointless if he doesn't make a comeback with whatever he has left in his hand.

"Alright then…" Diana picks up the plate and returns to the kitchen to clean up.

 **Turn 5: Yuya**

While the T.V was on, Yasuko walks back around the couch to grabs her things to placed them back up in the room where she was supposed to be sleeping in. She picks up her traveling bag and was about to grab her backpack when something happened at this point.

One of her backpack pockets was starting to make a bright glow. Yasuko seems to notice the glow from the inside of the backpack pocket.

"What the…" Yasuko drops her travel bag and takes out whatever was glowing in her backpack. She finds what was glowing and pulls out her crystal keychain. The keychain was a bit chipped but retains its firm solid crystal and it was blinking on and off like a car alarm blinking its headlights. The light kept blinking on and off for the unknown reason.

"My keychain… it's glowing?" Yasuko wondered. She never saw the crystal blinking like this before. It was just a piece of jewelry that's been with her since she can't remember. Yasuko kept her eyes at the keychain until she heard something on the TV screen. "I'll use Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician to set the Pendulum Scale!" Yasuko turned back to see something amazing as it is.

Yuya suddenly makes an epic comeback with two monsters, **Stargazer Magician (Scale 1** **)** and the **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8** **)** to summon not just one, but multiple monsters from his hand. Three monsters appearing in the field are **Performapal Whip Snake (ATK 1700/ DEF 900)** , **Performapal Sword Fish (ATK 600/DEF 600)** and a newly evolved **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/ DEF 2000)**.

When Yuya made more than just one summoning, Yasuko was shocked. The sledgehammer had him cornered and now, he was able to make a recovery to make a counterattack.

"What the?" Yasuko inquired.

Yasuko was between shock and amazed at this summons. She had never seen anyone making multiple summonses at the same time and the new Odd Eyes is something her gives her a shiver in her spine. She has no words to speak about as her crystal keychain glows down from the blinking.

* * *

 **How do you think about this? It's not going to be catching all the duels, it's only by the audience of the character or what she sees, so this story won't have all of the duels because that would be too much. I'm only gonna focus on mostly duels with the deuteragonist, so that way, it'll be simple and sweet. Anyways, I hoped you enjoy taking the time to read this. I know it's a bit long, but I just pound the keyboard until it is satisfying enough.**

 **Stay tuned.**


	2. Chapter 2: The Former Trailblazers

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OC"s" that could or may be involved in this series.**

* * *

 _Chapter 2: The Trailblazers of Maiami_

* * *

 **Yuya (LP: 400) (0) Cards**

 **VS**

 **Strong Ishijima (LP: 4000) (0) Cards**

Yasuko was completely taken back by Yuya performing a new summoning method that can allow a duelist to make multiple summons in one turn. With all the life points, low and all his monsters on the field, Yuya would have his first victory against the has all his monsters on the field. While the Sledgehammer has only one strong monster that towers over all his. Still, Yasuko has never seen this kind of summoning method before in her life. The field was perfect to Yuya for he has the advantage over the Sledgehammer now.

Yuya has **Performapal Whip Snake (ATK 1700/ DEF 900)** , **Performapal Sword Fish (ATK 600/ DEF 600)** and **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/ DEF 2000)** in Attack Position **.**

Yasuko could make out his two other monsters, **Stargazer Magician (Scale 1** **)** and **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8** **)** are on the field if they're not in the monster zone. Either way goes, Yasuko would see how would the Sledgehammer counterattack this move with only **Battleguard King (ATK 5000/DEF 1100)** on the field and a card face down.

 **Turn 5: Yuya**

It was still Yuya's turn after he draws a card and he makes his first move by using Performapal Whip Snake's effect to switch the ATK and DEF of Battleguard King until the end of the turn.

 **(Battleguard King: ATK 5000 → 1100/DEF 1100 → 5000).** The behemoth king stands down and let's Strong Ishijima off the ground while he was shocked of how his monster was weaker than Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Yuya then activates Performapal Sword Fish special effect, which lets him target and reduce the ATK of a monster his opponent controls by 600. He chooses Battleguard King and its ATK is reduced by the number of 600.

 **(Battleguard King: ATK 1100 → 500/ DEF 5000)**.

Yasuko whistled, shaking her head with such a disappointment. "Bad luck for this guy." Yasuko sends her regards to Strong Ishijima. She was utmost impressed by this boy. Not only did he make an impossible comeback, but he just discovered a new summoning method.

Yuya attacks Battleguard King with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. The boy rides his dragon like he tames the beast to make an attack on Strong Ishijima. He makes an attempt to defend himself by using his face-down **, Battleguard Howling** , a Trap card which lets him target a monster and returns the monster to the hand if a "Battleguard" monster he controls is being attacked, and inflicts damage to his opponent equal to that monster's ATK.

However, Yuya activates the Pendulum Effect of Timegazer Magician, which negates and re-sets a Trap Card that targets exactly 1 Pendulum Monster he controls. Battleguard Howling was negated and re-sets back to face-down. The Sledgehammer starts to panic and leaps up to snatch an Action Card, **Evasion** ; however, Yuya negates the Spell card by activating the Pendulum Effect of Stargazer Magician, which negates a Spell Card that targets 1 Pendulum Monster he controls.

Yasuko first saw how Yuya makes an entry, second, he performs a summoning method called "Pendulum", and lastly, the special Pendulum effects can be used when they're on the field. Yasuko was very interested on how he was able to do all of this without even knowing. The Action card was useless now and Battleguard King is wide open for a direct attack.

Yasuko focused all her attention at Odd-Eyes. She was captivated by the dragon. It has changed since Yuya first Pendulum Summoned and how the appearance got bigger than it was in the last turn. Instead of a slim figure, the dragon is bigger with its red scale armor covering the body from head to the tail. It has one red and green orbs attached to the shoulder blades from the back that are supposed to be wings. The horns were additionally new to the head with the golden snort covering almost the entire face.

Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks Battleguard King with Spiral Strike Burst. The attack continues as Yuya activates the effect of Pendulum Dragon. When Odd-Eyes destroys a monster, any battle damages are doubled.

"Game over," Yasuko commented before she leaves without seeing the LP going down the drain for the Sledgehammer.

 **(The Sledgehammer: 4000 → 0 LP).**

* * *

Yasuko holds her belongings and head upstairs where she would be sleeping in for the rest of the year. Yasuko had a lot of things going on in her mind. She never expected the boy she just met to make a comeback with a new summoning. While she was walking, she replays the exact word that Yuya called during his turn.

"Pendulum?" she recalled. "Is that what it's called?" Yasuko puts her thoughts on the duel on tv. It was unexpected. Never in her wildest dreams would she ever come across a duelist who is in possession of another Odd-Eyes.

She follows the hallway to where her room was supposed to be and opens the door. With a mirror by the wall and a desk along with a bed, she placed her travel bag on the ground and her backpack on the bed. She draws her duel disk out of her holster and popped opens the deck for her to see.

"Odd-Eyes…Odd-Eyes…I know I've heard of that before…" Yasuko searched her deck for one specific card that makes her recognize that name. "Aha! Here it is!"

Yasuko takes out a dragon that looked nearly identical to the card that Yuya has, but the card was not the same as it is on the tv screen. The dragon has blue skin and was just as slim as the previous form of Odd-Eyes. The blue scales covered the end of the tail and the front arms. Like the previous Odd-Eyes, it possesses the dichromatic red and green eyes that shares the same resemblance of Odd-Eyes Dragon.

Yasuko admires dragons, but she was thinking back the first dragon monster she saw on TV. She could remember those dichromatic red and green eyes that glowed in the screen anywhere. It came from the same card that she's been carrying all those years.

"That was a very beautiful dragon," Yasuko wondered. She could recall those dichromatic eyes that glows in broad daylight. "But that monster changed because of that summoning. How did someone like that kid got his hands on that Odd-Eyes?" Yasuko looks back down at her card.

"Yuya Sakaki, huh?" Yasuko remembers the name of the boy she first met. "I think I need to look in to this more." Yasuko returns to unpack her belongings for the rest of the day. She unpacked her clothes and her stuff to set up an alarm clock while checking her duel disk for the correct time.

"Yasuko," Diana called, popping her head in the room where Yasuko was making her bed.

"Yeah."

"I almost forgot…" Diana sticks out a paper for Yasuko to take. "This is where you'll need to get your uniform." Maiami Junior High Prep is where she'll be attending for now on. Yasuko never had the joy of studying, but she does them because it's a requirement, unlike Dueling.

"Thanks, I'll come get them after I'm done," said Yasuko, looking at the list she needs for the school she'll be going. "A common school uniform type, but it'll do." Diana leaves Yasuko as she makes her clothes neatly before putting them in a closet. While laying her cards on the table, she puts always the things that are order before putting back her deck and walks down the stairs to pick up the uniform she hates to wear.

Maiami City looks like it was a city where many people can take a vacation for dueling. Yasuko held her gym bag she brought for things to carry on bag home. She walks down the street through midtown to find the store where she can come and get her uniform. Yasuko was impressed on the city culture for Dueling. Seeing Yuya's Duel had people returning to their daily lives. She stops by at the red light while watching her surroundings. Yasuko looks up on the tower that says, "LDS". She has no knowledge what it means, but she wouldn't care much since she got here.

The red light changed to the waking sign as she crossed over to another block where her store was supposed to be in. As she walked by, she can hear rumors about the Pendulum Summoning method everyone's been talking about.

"Hey, do you know anything about Yuya Sakaki making this Pendulum Summon?" said one kid.

"No, I don't even know what Pendulum is."

Yasuko can hear some people talking about today's match with Strong Ishijima with this Pendulum Summon. The match has made the people of this city blossoming with so many wonders of how to do the summoning method that Yuya just discovered. Even Yasuko was intrigued by how this Pendulum Summoning worked. She would be using that kind to her advantage; however, since this was a whole new level, she would have to wait until she could get the chance to understand it more. Right now, it's business as usual for her.

Yasuko stops at the shop where they had uniforms for their school districts. She opens the door for the bell to ring of their customer. She could make out that there are tons of uniforms in the back based on gender, however, she doesn't want to wear a skirt for her uniform; she rather has something else besides that. A middle age woman comes by with a measuring tape around her neck and a rule by the ear came out upon hearing the bell.

"Yes, may I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah...um… I'm here on a transfer to Maiami Second Junior High and I need a standardized uniform," Yasuko explained. "So, do have any size 10 and medium?"

"Of course, I've received an email saying that you'll be in the school," said the woman. "Right thee way, please. I'll need to measure your height."

Yasuko followed her to the dressing room. "Can I have you stand right here." Yasuko stands on top of the stool while the woman measures her exact height, size, and arm's length for the uniform she would be wearing. Yasuko extends her arms for the woman to measure while thinking something else.

"Hard to believe that almost everyone's been talking about this Pendulum summoning, huh?" Yasuko asked the woman.

"Oh, is that what it's called?"

"That's what everyone's been calling," Yasuko assumed. "It's some kind of a new summoning technique that allows a duelist to summon multiple monsters in one turn."

"Oh, so is that how it works? Well, that Yuya Sakaki sure knows how to make Dueltainment more surprising with that kind of moves."

"What is Dueltainment?" Yasuko asked before dropping her arms as the woman measures her height.

"Well, Dueltainment, or Entertainment Duel is something like a circus act or a carnival which makes the duelist a magician," the woman explained. "Dueltainment comes from Action Duels, which has the Duelist perform amazing stunts that seem death-defying, just like Yusho and his Sky Magician magic."

"Yusho is a Dueltainer?"

"Yeah, he's an all-star legend in this city. From all the matches, I've seen him doing so many wonderous tricks that make everyone being filled with shivers and joy. It is as if he was able to call our hearts from a performance," said the woman.

"I've heard that he disappeared three years ago, did something happened?" Yasuko inquired. She did recall the stories from the people she met about Yusho disappearing without telling anyone.

"No one knows exactly," said the woman. "After he disappeared three years ago, he left behind his wife and son along with his duel school."

"Duel School?"

"Yeah, Yusho Sakaki has a duel school downtown, it's called the You-Show Duel School."

Yasuko looks skeptical about the name. "Seriously? He named a school after himself?" Yasuko inquired.

"Yeah, it's a funny name for a Duel school."

"What does it do?"

"The You-Show Duel School is specialized in teaching young kids like you about Entertainment Duels. They taught them how to make super stunts and boldest tricks that made their duels more entertaining than just to see who will win." Yasuko listened to the woman's statement about the Duel School. The woman returns her measuring tape back while she looks over the stacks of uniforms.

"For Yusho and his students, they believed that Dueling can be used for more of an entertainment purpose. So, say like he's teaching kids how to duel with the act."

Yasuko makes a glance over the woman who has her uniform skirt ready and is searching for her uniform shirt. "Is it the only duel school around here?" she asked.

"No, there's also plenty of other types in this city, but the most prominent one is the Leo Institute Duel School, which is the one with the tower and a stadium by the center," said the woman.

"So, there are two duel schools, is that what you're saying?"

"Correct." the woman returns with her uniform. "The Leo Corporation is the owner of the Duel School, though the You Show Duel School is the only Duel school with the few complications."

"Did that go bankrupted?"

"Nah, it's just...things went just plain boring after Yusho disappeared," the woman explained. "No one else seems to enjoy Entertainment Duels like they used to."

"It's a shame really," Yasuko added. "I always wonder how they duel around here."

"Well, you can start by enrolling once you're done with your standard educational school." said the woman.

"Thanks, but no thanks, I'd rather be attending school on my own basis," Yasuko declined.

The woman looked at her skeptically. She noticed that she had a Duel disk holster on her left right leg. "Aren't you a Duelist?" she asked.

"Sort of," answered Yasuko.

"So, if you are, shouldn't you in a Duel School?"

"Nope."

"So, how come you're here?" the woman asked. "I know that you're taking on a transfer from the school board, but are you also being transferred to a Duel School?"

Yasuko shook her head, decline any transfer that would make her attend a Duel School. "Nope, none of that is what I'm here for today," said Yasuko.

Yasuko goes on to the fitting room and tries on her uniform. She removes everything on her clothes including her duel disk holster and wore her uniform. She would need some leggings for her skirt because she hates peeping toms.

"Let's hope this school is going to be worth it," she said, almost to herself.

After fitting on her uniform, she pays the fees for the clothes and walks with a bag in her hand. Yasuko checks her duel disk to check the time and there was still plenty of time left before sunset. With all that done, she makes her way to various convenient stores to find her school supplies. She collects pencils, leads, papers, notebooks, and even a pair of sneakers for the school. She wants to go grab something to eat, she went three blocks down to a sandwich shop from the convenient store, and even try out what the view was like.

Yasuko could see all the sorts of advertisements for Duel Monsters. She started to think that Maiami City is the center of Duel Monsters. The woman back at the shop mentioned that Leo Corporation had a Duel School called Leo Institute Duel School and she would've guessed that the LDS tower had to be a Duel School the woman talked about.

"So, this is what the Leo Institute Duel School is supposed to be huh?" Yasuko inquired. "They should definitely decorate." Yasuko wanted to check it out, but there would be another time for she wanted to go somewhere she needed to go.

There was a library that Maiami City had around the corner and Yasuko was fiddling with the computer. She took her time to research everything on articles about the Leo Corporation, You Show Duel School and Entertainment Duels. This was far new to her. She usually duels normally without having to do anything physical, but this was relatively new to her taste. Everyone else who probably lived in the city already knew about Action Duels long before she could remember. She takes this time to study more about the Leo Corporation, the enterprise of dueling.

" _Action Duels are the new type of Duels that uses holograms from the duel disk into a physical solid mass."_ She pondered as she read about the company that started the Action Duel. " _According to the information here, it was created by…"_ As Yasuko looks up about the inventor, she gasped softly as she heard of that name before.

"Yusho Sakaki?" she inquired. "He invented Action Duels." Yasuko was astonished that not only is Yusho Sakaki a Duelist like what that Yuya told her, but he was also the creator of Action Duels. Yasuko continues to read more about his background.

"Yusho Sakaki, a Professional Duelist who, along with his lab partner, Leo Akaba, sought and created the ARC system, a revolutionary type of hologram where Duel Monsters can be physically real in life." Yasuko reads more articles about Yusho, showing her pictures of his previous duels during his time. He looks like he was acting or a magician. She stops to read about two inventors who discovered and created the machine that turns everything into real solid holograms. Yasuko saw the picture of Yusho and another man next to him, shaking his hand while looking at the camera that took the picture.

"So, this is Leo Akaba, huh?" she inquired.

Leo had a full head of dark gray hair, a light blue flannel shirt, and gray slack pants. He and Yusho looked younger than before. She searched for more information about his lab partner, Leo Akaba.

"Leo Akaba… the lab partner and creator of the ARC system, same ok' info," said Yasuko, as she continues to read more. "Leo Akaba started off as developing and creating the new Corporate trans fonder called Leo Corporation. The enterprise was made to disturb the public use of Duel Monsters and former Leo's Institute for Dueling, or simply known as Leo's Duel School."

Yasuko searched about the corporation and the institute that is funding the school. She could see how many students would go through advanced techniques to make different summoning methods that would increase the duelist's performance.

"Interesting…" Yasuko was intrigued by their Duel courses. She searched more about the executive with a different news about Leo. "The corporate executive, Leo Akaba, suddenly vanished the other day and no one has ever heard of him since. In his absences, his elder son, Declan Akaba, became the next CEO of Leo Corporation."

Yasuko raised a brow out of confusion. First Yusho had a son, then his lab partner has a son too? "Declan Akaba? He's the son of Leo Akaba?" Yasuko researched more about the family, as she reads more articles about not only the father but the son as well.

"Declan Akaba was the profound offspring of Leo Akaba and Henrietta Akaba. Earned a professional duelist license at the age of 15, succeeded in becoming corporate CEO of Leo Corporation." As she reads more about the son, Yasuko was easily impressed with the child.

"Looks like this towns got some tough ones, I'm impressed," said Yasuko. She searches more about the son, but all there was were reading articles. She tried images, but there were no photoshoots of the boy.

"He rarely goes out in public, but his mother was a representative to spread some influence to recruit international duelist. Just who is this guy?"

Yasuko spent her time to research the pioneers of Dueling separately, each one taking the two duelists from their perspective style. Turning back to Yusho, she reads on.

"Yusho Sakaki was a reigning champion of Maiami City until three years ago, his sudden vanish tarnished his reputation and his Duel school, severely losing enrollment for the last six months." Yasuko shakes her head and whistles disappointingly. "This guy must be a coward if that's what everyone's been talking about."

"Of course, he's a coward." Yasuko turned to a boy sitting next to her. "Yusho Sakaki was a pro, girl. Then he just chickened out in the Duel against the Sledgehammer. Some duelist he must be." Yasuko doesn't know this boy, but she does not like his attitude.

"How? You never even met him," said Yasuko.

"I was there when he was about to duel the Sledgehammer alright," said the boy. "And his son is just like that old man."

"For the record," Yasuko replies. "I, distinctly, remember that it was his son who actually beat the Sledgehammer."

"Only because he made a cheat out of it," The boy hissed. "I heard that Yuya cheated from what all the others say when they wanted to know at You Show Duel school."

"That's bull," Yasuko argued. "Yuya didn't and never cheated. If it did, then where would've been an error to the game."

"Maybe he hacked the system."

"That's also bull," said Yasuko. "He's not that _smart_ to hack the entire grid."

Then he was ticked off, standing up with his fists ready. "I'm telling you, he cheated. There is no Pendulum Summon and there is no way he could've beat the Sledgehammer!" The librarian hushed them both because they were talking loudly in the library.

"I only see with my own two eyes," said Yasuko. "If you believe it or not, that's not my problem. Now beat it, kid, I've got homework to attend to." Yasuko excuses herself from him and reads back to an article about two Duel schools: Leo Duel School, and You Show Duel School.

"You Show Duel School is an institute for teaching younger duelist how to make spectacular moves based on the duelist perspective. When Yusho disappeared, the enrollment rates dropped to the point where anyone hardly recognized the school.

"Leo Institute Duel School was built by the Leo Corporation after Leo Akaba founded the corporation. As he proclaimed, "This would be the foundation and the future of duels." The enrollment reached to three thousand after the success of the institute and has been globally introduced throughout the world." Yasuko continues to read about two Duel schools. She must be assuming that school was very popular, but You Show started to decline after the founder disappeared. She types down "Yuya Sakaki" and she gets not much information but the recent news articles about his victory against the Sledgehammer.

"Yuya Sakaki, son of the former reigning champion, Yusho Sakaki, succeeds in avenging his father's lost glory against the champion, Strong Ishijima, aka, the Sledgehammer. As the son of the man who created the ARC system, Yuya spectaculars discovered and created a new summoning method." Yasuko thinks back to the live Duel. She saw Yuya making two monsters appears altogether before three of his monsters comes out at the same time.

" _For a duelist to perform multiple summoning, they would require a strategy that needs the abilities of monsters, spells, and trap cards to make multiple summoning, but that boy…"_ Yasuko thought of the duelist. _'He made multiple summonses without those strategies. I need to know first-hand, but…"_ Yasuko checks the clock and it's fifteen minutes passes seven.

"I need to get back home," Yasuko said to herself. Turning off the computer and grabbing her bag, she walks out of the library to return to her caretaker's house before it turns dark.

Yasuko returns to the house from the bus station. The sky was turning orange and the sun was setting down at the mountains from the east. She walks back inside, taking off her shoes as she called out, "Ms. Luciana, I'm back!"

"Oh, hi, welcome back," said Diana, calling from the kitchen. "I didn't know you were gonna be home early." While Diana was in the kitchen, Yasuko removes her Duel disk holster and turns on the TV.

"I'm not the one who goes around this place and sightseeing," said Yasuko. "I just wanna get some things over with and be done with." Yasuko takes her deck out of the disk and picks out the same white dragon card to lay out on the table. "And I've been doing research about Leo Corporation and the Duel Schools around here."

"Oh, really?" Diana inquired.

"Yeah, and so far…they sucked." Yasuko admits her opinions on the duel schools.

"Speaking of Duel Schools," Diana mentioned, coming out of the kitchen with an apron wore around her waist. "I've noticed that you're a duelist. The Duel disk and that deck means that you're a duelist, aren't you? There are plenty of duel schools here for you to try."

"I only have two schools I'm gonna do," said Yasuko. "A normal school and the special school. No exception." Yasuko pointed out. "And can you believe that this school called You Show had an enrollment of only five people?" Diana's ears perked up when she heard the name of the school that Yasuko mentioned

"You Show? But that's Yusho's duel school."

"Are you talking about the pro-duelist Yusho? 'Cause I'm confused on which one is it," Yasuko asked if Diana was referring to the name of the school or the name of the duelist.

"I suppose it was the school name," Diana said as she went back to the kitchen.

Yasuko channel-surfed through the t.v, yet nothing was good to watch except championship Duels worldwide. She watched TV for two hours, supporting her head with her elbow while surfing through countless channels and random TV shows she doesn't care about. After turning to another channel, Diana comes back to the living room.

"Dinners ready," she said.

Yasuko collects her stuff and turns up to the table full of food she wants to cook. She takes a seat across from Diana while she sits across from them.

"Hey Diana, can I ask you something?" Yasuko bursts out some words as she begins to eat.

"Yeah, what is it?" Diana asked.

"Why do people enjoy winning in Duels?" Yasuko asked her a question that defines how people Duel nowadays. "I've read that You Show Duel School was so popular that people couldn't stop enrolling it? How did it come to that?"

"Well…" Diana thinks of some words to put together to talk Yasuko about Entertainment Duels. "Yusho was more than just a great duelist; he was the heart of Entertainment Duels." Yasuko raised an eyebrow.

Diana ate her rice while she explained more about the Duel style. "Entertainment Duels were created to make everyone have fun. Now, people don't Duel for fun; they Duel for win." Diana looks up from her plate at Yasuko. "Do you Duel to win?"

Yasuko paused herself from eating to think about her reason for dueling. She wonders to herself: what does she Duel for? Fame? Glory? Entertainment? There are things that she can't describe herself in Dueling.

"I duel because I duel," Yasuko finally answered to Diana's question. "I specifically don't have a purpose in choosing what is right for dueling. Whether it would be fame, the thrill, or the excitement of the duels. I duel because I just duel. I have no self-esteem for all these things." Diana watched her curiously as she listened to her statement.

"Yusho Sakaki and Leo Akaba...I've read what they have in common and so far, they share different views of dueling. Yusho wants to entertain while Leo wants to win." Yasuko looks over at Diana, curiously thinking over about the two founders of ARC. "How come Yusho wants to make an entertainment out of duel?" she asked.

"That's because Yusho wanted to make everyone smile." Diana started to smile as she reflects over how his beliefs impacted everyone who saw him duel. "They say "smiles are an important matter in life," so I would think everyone smiles, just not in a way that they used to back then." Yasuko held her spoonful food while ingesting the idea of a smile. Smiles are very contagious for everyone, but something inside of her couldn't cope to smile just like everyone else.

"Yeah…" Yasuko muttered to herself quietly.

None of them talk for a while as Yasuko and Diana continue to eat their dinner for the rest of the night. She had some thoughts in her head that she couldn't understand. She wondered if Leo and Yusho share the same desire to bring happiness to the people of Maiami City. All these people who dueled don't seem to be enjoying their duels like how Yusho wanted. She must've assumed that they've grown greedy to make the best of their duels to become a professional duelist or even better.

As soon as they finished, Yasuko collects the dish and brings them to the sink for Diana to wash while she puts the cleaned dishes back on the counter.

"Thank you for the dinner, Diana." Yasuko expressed her gratitude to the woman before walking up to her room.

She changed into her pajamas, and lay on her bed, holding the same white dragon card that she's been always taking out every time she was alone. She kept looking at the dragon card with the same blank facial expression.

"Let's hope that tomorrow could've been better." And with that, Yasuko puts away her dragon card on the desk and turns off the light for some sleep.


	3. Chapter 3: Different People

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 3: Different People_

* * *

The alarm sets off from her Duel Disk. She groans and slams her Duel disk to shut her alarm off. Yasuko rolls over and throws her blanket aside. Her hair extends outward, and her eyes looked drowsy. Yasuko wanted to sleep some more if it wasn't for that time today; school. She sat straight up and stretched her arms upwards before extending outwards to relieve the muscles before taking her trip to the bathroom.

Yasuko gets dressed in her school outfit, wearing some leggings underneath. She ties her hair to her low pigtails like she always does and slides down the stair rails. She pulls her uniform jacket and lands with two feet on the ground.

"Good morning Yasuko," Diana greets her cheerfully.

"Good morning, Ms. Luciana," Yasuko replied, taking a seat on the table.

"I was thinking of having you to try my raspberry pancakes," said Diana.

Diana passes a flat pancake on the plate before givin it to Yasuko. "I don't mind," said Yasuko, taking a fork and a knife. "I like pancakes." Yasuko takes a bit at her pancake while she drank some orange juice. "I've been thinking of how to make them, and by the looks of it, I would say that you've done it so easily. How do you do it?" Yasuko asked while chewing some fluffy pancakes.

"I take some advice from this cookbook." Diana passes an opened cookbook that shows her the basic skills of how to make a pancake. Yasuko takes her time to read through the instructions while eating her pancake at the same time.

* * *

Yasuko took the bus to where her school was supposed to be. She waits until it came to a stop. Yasuko grabs two bags: one for school, and one for after-school gym activity. She ran out the door. As the bus leaves, she saw the front gate of her school; A fine Prep Middle School.

"There it is… Maiami Prep Middle School," said Yasuko, jogging at the front gates, already late for class.

* * *

t all happened on that day when Yuya decided to practice his Pendulum Summon. He's been practicing for so long that he fell asleep during class. He napped while a girl with dark pink pigtails sat next to him. She looked over to him sleeping with his arms under his head, muttering, "Pendulum" repeatedly.

Before class could begin, the teacher announces that there will be a new student coming in. "Alright class, before we begin, I would like to have your attention for our new student," the teacher announced as he turned to the door. "Ms. Yukihana, you may come in." On cue, Yasuko opens the door and lead herself standing in front of the class. "This is Yasuko Yukihana, and she's been transferred from Horyuji Academy," the teacher announced, turning to Yasuko. "Ms. Yukihana, would you please introduce yourself to the class?"

Yasuko nodded and faced forward to declare her name. "I am Yasuko. Yasuko Yukihana and I have nothing in common with the rest of you, so I don't care," Yasuko stated. "And I have one thing to say…. I like pancakes." When she declared her introduction, all of Yasuko's classmates— minus Yuya— looked at her strangely. They were thinking the same thing about Yasuko: ' _What_?'

"You may sit at the empty seat right over there." The teacher points his finger to an empty seat reserved for her in front of Yuya's seat.

"K.O," said Yasuko before waking to the desk. While the teacher was prepared to start on a lesson, Yasuko seemed to notice that it was the same girl who she saw before. She also noticed that the student behind her assigned seat was sleeping. He snores while muttering, "Pendulum" at the same time.

" _Something's up with that guy…_ " Yasuko thought. As she comes closer, Yasuko happens to realize that it was the same boy from the day when she first got here. "Hey, you're the boy from yesterday!" Yasuko's sudden shout catches Yuya off-guard that made jumpy. He promptly wakes up. Yuya jumps up, knocking Yasuko off her feet while holding out two cards in the front.

"I use my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician to set the Pendulum Scale!" Yuya shouted unintentionally.

Yasuko and the rest of the class looked surprised at his sudden outburst. When he realized that he isn't dueling, he remembers that he was at a regular school. He sweats in embarrassment. He notices someone on the ground, and recognize Yasuko on the ground.

"Oh, it's you… from yesterday…uha Yasuko, isn't it?" said Yuya.

Yasuko blinks once before her face hardens into a glare. She stands back up and faces Yuya with a frown. "This is the second time you've hit me, you moron..." Yasuko growled before she reaches out for his two cards and swipes them from his hands in a flash.

"Hey!" Yuya protested.

"I'll be keeping these until the end of the day," Yasuko declared, looking at the two cards. "So until then, don't even bother asking them for me."

"But those are—" Yuya paused for a split second when the teacher got right up into Yuya's face with an unsatisfied look that matches Yasuko's glare. Yuya held his hands up front, anxious about the teacher's sudden appearance.

"So, do you have anything else to say for yourself, Mr. Sakaki?" the teacher asks Yuya for an excuse.

Yuya's sheepish smile was cringing nervously, trying to come up with an excuse for his actions. "Um… well… you see… should I tell you I have an excuse?" Yuya started.

 _WHACK!_

Before Yuya could speak up, he was suddenly hit by the girl next to him with a giant fan over his head. She had the furious anger over her face for his stupidity. "Like hell, you should!" the girl exclaimed. "Go back to sleep, Yuya!" The classroom bursts in laughter from Yuya's silly outburst, but Yasuko didn't laugh or snort at his mischief. She just stood there watching Yuya's mistake. She takes the seat in front of Yuya while the whole class continues to laugh at him before the teacher dismisses the laughter and proceeds the lesson.

Yasuko held the two cards that Yuya presented. Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians; the same cards she saw Yuya used at the duel with Strong Ishijima on TV. Yasuko had never seen these types of cards. The differences in their design are distinguishing themselves from the regular standard cards.

Yasuko studied them thoroughly. She grabs a pencil and starts drawing some significant differences from the two cards: the red and blue diamond arrows. She traces the diamond shapes on the card. Thinking back to how Yuya managed to summon three monsters, she had to rephrase what Yuya said in his turn. He said something about Timegazer being a Scale 8 and Stargazer being a Scale 1 and the next thing, it was Pendulum Summon.

The red and blue diamonds had a number on them. The only thing questioning her is how the monsters were summoned. On tv, Odd-Eyes is a level 7; yet Yuya summoned it without tributing.

While Yasuko was analyzing the cards, Yuya peek his head over to see what she was doing to his cards. From what he comes to suspect, Yasuko is studying them like they were textbooks. Yuya slumps on his desk with a sad look on his face. All morning, he stares at Yasuko's back while listening to some boring stuff the teacher gives out.

"Yuya…" the girl sitting next to him whispered to get his attention. "Have you met her before?" Yuya glances over to clarify something about her.

"I only met her once yesterday before I dueled Strong Ishjima, Zuzu," said Yuya. "But I didn't know she'll be attending here."

The girl, Zuzu, furrows her eyebrows. "You bumped into her?" she whispered.

"Yeah, I was running down the street, and when I turned the corner, I kinda bumped into her," Yuya clarified. "I wasn't looking at first, but she seems to be furious…" Yuya glances back at Yasuko. He leans forward to peek at his cards again. Yuya definitely wants his cards back, but he believes that it'll be harder to convince someone with a bad attitude like Yasuko to give him back.

* * *

Yasuko still has time to explore the school campus once lunch comes by. It was a big campus compared to her old school. Lots of students associating with each other; nothing much. She gets her bento box and heads out the door. Yuya watches her leave before he stood up to follow her.

Zuzu notices him walking away. "Yuya, where are you going?" she asked.

"To find Yasuko," Yuya replied. "I think it's my fault that she's in a really bad mood. I think if I can convince her to give my Pendulum cards, then she'll cool down."

Zuzu held a thin line on her mouth before nodding once. She knows that Yasuko took them out of the blue for bumping into her and she needs to respect people's property.

The corner of the track and field is the perfect spots Yasuko would separate herself from the student body. Normally, she would be eating on the rooftop as her usual spot for lunch back at her old school. Since Yasuko is still new, she figures that it was the logical place to eat rather than just be inside the building.

Under the shades of the tree, Yasuko eats the bento box that Diana packed for her. She was still studying the Pendulum Cards that she took from Yuya because he bumped her again. The reason? She didn't like to be pushed around. That's what she thoughts.

While chewing some food, she holds one card from her deck, a Masked Dragon, and Timegazer Magician on the other. She is still wondering about the card. The color at the bottom somehow changed to becoming a lot like a spell card.

"So, this is what they look like?" Yasuko wondered. "But how did he did it?" She puts down the two cards and drink some juice.

Of course, there has to be someone from the school to come by to her spot and interrupt the tranquility of her eating time. It was annoying her like hell. "I know you're there behind that tree you faggot," Yasuko suddenly called. She turns her head to face the shadow figure hiding behind one of the trees. "I have peripherals, you know."

The figure reveals not one but two people from behind the tree. To her disappointment, it was Yuya Sakaki from her class and Zuzu. "Oh, it's you," she said. "I thought I told you I'm not going to give you back the cards until the end of the day."

Yuya gives a pouting face. "I said I was sorry," he said.

"Uh, I didn't hear you say it," Yasuko replied, looking from Yuya to the Zuzu, the girl with dark pink midback-length hair tied in pigtails she didn't noticed in class today. "Who's she? Your sister?"

The girl seems taken back. "Sister?" Zuzu inquired. "I'm Zuzu Hiiragi, and I'm also Yuya's friend," she introduced herself to Yasuko. "And you are Yasuko Yukihana, am I right? The new transfer student from Horyuji Academy?""

Yasuko bites some more rice to her mouth. "I am," she talked with her mouth half full of food. "What are you doing here anyways?" she asked.

"Oh…" Yuya realized. "I was thinking we can talk since we just met yesterday."

Yasuko raise an eyebrow staring at Yuya. "About what?"

"About you actually," Yuya said to Yasuko's surprise. "I saw you had a duel disk on you yesterday, so I thought we can talk. You mind we have some lunch here too?"

In the back of her mind, Yasuko wants to say "scram Yuya and Zuzu,", but she saw him dueled Strong Ishijima with an Odd-Eyes. The least thing that she can do is be on even terms with him and shrugged. "Sure, why not?" Yuya give a beam while Zuzu held a satisfied smile.

In the group of three, Yasuko finds it hard to believe that there are people in the city who are willing to hang out with her. It's something that she doesn't come across with during her spare time. She is sandwiched between Yuya on her right and Zuzu on the left. They eat their lunch together. Yuya apologies to Yasuko for bumping her again in class. Yasuko was still not happy with it though.

"So, you came from Horyuji Academy?" Yuya asked. "Where did you come from exactly?" he asked, eating a box of rice to his mouth.

"Tokyo," Yasuko revealed. "I came from Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" Zuzu inquired. "That's very far."

The girl turns to Zuzu and gives a shrug. "It's not that far if you take just public transportation," she said.

Zuzu looks at her. "So, what do you think about Maiami City?" she asked. "Kinda different than the one you were used to, huh?"

Yasuko glances back to the fences where there is a semi-view of Maiami City. "I think it's rather funky in my taste."

Zuzu pulls a face. "Funky?"

"Where I'm from," Yasuko said. "Everything is usually new soda pop or this, but the town is mostly about Dueling." She turns her head back to Zuzu. "I find it to be too much."

"Well, maybe we can show you around," Zuzu suggested. "It's awfully big like Tokyo."

Yasuko chews some more food as she replied, "I think I can manage my own." Unnoticed to both the girls, Yuya's hand slowly creeps to the first Pendulum card that was the closes to him. Out of the blue, Yasuko's hand swiftly makes a slap at Yuya's backhand.

"Ow! Hey!" Yuya grunted.

"Just because we're talking doesn't mean you can just come here and take back what you can. I know that you came here because you think you're trying to get back the cards while trying to talk to me when I told you that you can have them back when the day is over," Yasuko blurted.

Yuya gives an angry face. "You're mean, you know that," he scowled. "I can't believe why someone like you would be holding someone else's stuff."

Zuzu had to agree with her best friend. "Yuya's right," she admitted. "You don't get to just take Yuya's stuff over something that was an accident."

Yasuko was already finishing her lunch and narrows her eyes at Zuzu. "For the record, he crashed into me on the first day that arrived and the second day today." She held two fingers in the air. "That's twice now. Just a reminder, I don't like to be pushed over."

Zuzu gives her a frowning face. "C'mon, Yasuko, can you please just give Yuya back his Pendulum cards already?"

Yasuko held her chopstick to her lips. "Umm, let me think…no," she answered.

Zuzu huffs in anger. "Why not?" she asked.

Yasuko's eyes narrow slightly to Zuzu, already fed up with her temper. "Because I can," Yasuko replied. "Besides, I told you I would be giving back to him when the day is over and the day isn't over isn't it?" She puts away her finished bento box and collects her belongs. "Now if you excuse me, I'm heading back." Yasuko swipes the Pendulum cards and her own card before carrying her lunch box. "It was nice chatting with the both of ya, see you in class." Yasuko didn't give a wave as she walks across the track fields to get back to class.

Yuya has nothing more to do to get his cards back. He felt like it was unfair for Yasuko to hold onto the Pendulum cards that he practiced on while Zuzu still has the frown on her face, clearly showing the dislike for the new girl.

* * *

The day is finally over, and Yasuko had some time in her hands to do what she need to do. Yasuko cleans up her stuff and turns to Yuya, who was still sitting on his desk. "Here." Yasuko threw both Stargazer and Timegazer Magician on his table. "I held my end of the bargain."

Yuya picks up his cards for a brief second before looking up to Yasuko. "What, no excuses? No apology?" he inquired.

Yasuko faces back at Yuya, and she said, "Why should I? It was your fault for pushing me today and that's what you get. For all I care, they're practically useless."

Yuya narrows his eyes, staring at Yasuko with hostility building up. "Hey, that's not very nice, you know?" said Yuya.

"It's the truth," Yasuko admitted, packing up her notebook. She grabs both bags and before she goes, Yuya stops her. "Hey, wait… Yasuko, I just know something…" Yuya questioned her. "Are you in a duel school?"

"No," Yasuko asked.

"Really?" Yuya inquired, surprised. "I kinda assume that you're in duel school or something like that."

Yasuko's eyes stare at his own. "Yeah…no," said Yasuko, slowly. "I don't have any particular interest for those things. I can duel on my own. And from what I've heard, your father owns a Duel School, right?"

Yuya becomes surprised when he heard her knowing about the Duel School his father used to teach. "You know about You Show Duel School?" Yuya asked eagerly.

Yasuko closed her eyes and turned her head around. "I only heard about it since yesterday," said Yasuko.

Yuya got excited all the sudden and makes his way towards the front. "Then you've got to come with me and Zuzu." Yuya held his hands into fa ist, getting pumped up on her yearning for a special school. "We go to You Show Duel School, and I bet they can teach you a lot of things." Yuya then looks at the girl with dark pink hair. "Wouldn't be alright if she can come with us?"

Zuzu was strangely anxious about having Yasuko to come over to the school that she and agitated Duel. "I don't know if she's interested?" Zuzu inquired, uncertain about Yasuko's attitude towards their school's specialty.

"Like I care about playing circuit stunts and some other weird gimmicks," Yasuko said. "It doesn't suite my needs."

Zuzu looked at Yasuko with an anger look on her face. "Hey, that's my dad's school you're talking about!" Zuzu exclaimed.

Yasuko returns with a similar glance. "Really? I didn't know that there were staffs there."

Zuzu then takes one step forward to match her gaze. "Yuya's dad and my dad both made that school to help teach other people how to Duel with fun and a lot of things we can do to make dueling fun."

Yasuko seems irritated by Zuzu and turns her head away. "I don't care about those things. I duel for myself," she declared. "I don't make duels just to make someone else happy. I duel because I duel."

Zuzu bloats her cheeks in frustration and she turn her head around with the same attitude. "Fine, you know what, I don't care either!" she retorted. "You make think Dueling is always about winning, but Dueling is always about smiling."

Yasuko catches on about the tenet in duels. Yasuko doesn't know what kind of dueling styles that You Show teaches. "I don't care about smiles or winning, just as long as I get it over with," Yasuko said firmly. She does not want to talk to Zuzu anymore as she grabs both her bags and walks past both Zuzu and Yuya to the doors. "You two, have a good day." Yasuko waves back without looking before disappearing behind the corner.

Zuzu and Yuya watched her leave with different expressions: Zuzu for anger, and Yuya for concern. Yuya has never heard anyone talking about duels like that before in his life. He learned to understand that if anyone duels, then they have some kind of purpose or a reason for dueling. "Geez, what's up with her?" Zuzu scowled. "She should learn to manage her attitude when she meets people."

"I don't know," Yuya shrugged, confused.

Zuzu look back at the door way before she turned to face Yuya with a question she wanted to ask. "What's her problem?" she wondered. "We were trying to be nice, but she just had to go all crabby like a rock. She's a pain."

Yuya turns to give Zuzu a reasonable look. "Beats me. I don't know what's her problem." Yuya stands up and picks his bag to walk out with Zuzu.

* * *

Yasuko's bus stops at the center square. She has to go to the gym right after she was done touring herself around the city for a bit more. She figures that she can start with the Leo Institute Duel School for a moment because of their impressive structure and their well-known curriculums.

Yasuko was impressed with the building's interior. They've designed the complex so neat to all the students who enrolled in the LDS. Yasuko saw people dueling, training, and talking about cards. She continues to tour herself around LDS when she didn't notice that she walks past a boy with light cyan hair tied up and spiking out, wearing a blue jacket that with a yellow and orange trim over a black t-shirt.

"Nice place," Yasuko commented. "So, this is how the rich get the exclusives? Fine example of corporate monopoly." Yasuko heard excited voices coming from the entrance. She turns around and spotted three young kids, Yuya Sakaki, and Zuzu Hiiragi. At the sight of Yuya and Zuzu, Yasuko made a sound of disgust when she saw her again.

"You're kidding me?" Yasuko grumbled. "Why are they here? And who the hell's that boy with a bad haircut?" Yasuko narrows her eyes suspiciously. She did not expect to see Zuzu and Yuya again, but she didn't know that there was someone with them. It was a boy with short light brown, blonde hair, styled in layers, and grayish blue eyes wearing Maiami Prep Middle School uniform.

Normally, she would want to get into someone's business, but he looks like he was enjoying near the presences of Yuya. She could tell just by seeing how his body language was favoring Yuya as if he was his friend when Yuya should realize that he does not know him well.

"It's just like at You Show's only we give ourselves… mediagraphy!" The little red-haired girl cried out in amazement.

"I've heard that You Show's an "okay" school," The LDS student chuckled.

The little kids were very excited to see everything that LDS has to offer; however, Zuzu doesn't seem to be enthusiastic as the rest of her group. She had this stern look on her face that doesn't appreciate the things that LDS has made that You Show Duel doesn't.

"Well, thanks for the compliment! We're such a run-down joint!" Zuzu snapped sarcastically.

"Well, at least it's a cheaper place have their good points!" The chubby kid chuckled cheekily. He was excited to be in the top school as well. The LDS student smirked proudly. pointed to where they were all heading.

"The center court's that way!" The LDS student called. By then, they kept moving to get to the Center Court. Unnoticed by any of them, Yasuko was watching everything that they were doing.

Yasuko stays behind and watches the group leave with the LDS student boy. For some reason though, Yasuko was getting suspicious at the LDS student. She is certain that a stranger giving the kids and the two people she met at school generosity is faking his real nature. She doesn't like where this would be going if things go wrong for the group.

* * *

Yuya and the rest of the You Show students follow this strange LDS person all the way to the center of the court. By the time they stopped, they were amazed on how this court was three times bigger than their duel school's court. They had no idea that LDS could build sports sized stadiums for their own students. All the kids were so excited to see this arena in person.

"This is the most amazing dueling arena I've ever saw," said the chubby kid. Most of the kids were astonished by the size of the duel arena. The stadium was empty, but they thought of how the crowds would be screaming at their lungs to cheer them.

"It's the LDS Center Court I've been longing to see!" The blue haired kid exclaimed in amazement.

Yasuko stopped by at the entrance doing her best to remain hidden and see what the boy has in store for the other kids.

From the middle of the stadium, three teenage boys come up to the group. "Hey!" one of the students called.

The LDS student that led them here explained their reasons for being here. "Those boys are also your fans," he pointed out. "They are curious about the cards you used to Pendulum Summon. Would you mind showing them your cards?" The LDS student asked.

Yasuko somehow was getting on to what those boys were wanting to see: Pendulum Monsters. She lowered her eyes. Yasuko does not like how this would turn out. She had seen those cards before, and she would've guessed that those boys are after Yuya's Pendulum monsters.

Yuya is hesitant to the request. He reluctantly didn''t want to show anyone his first two cards he obtained. After Yasuko snagged his cards, he wants sure if he would want to show themto anyone again.

"You mean… show them... my cards…" Yuya started, only for the LDS student to insist.

"They're best buddies of mine," the student admitted.

Yasuko sees the hesitation from Yuya's face. It was clear to her that he _really_ doesn't want to show anyone his cards after he made the Pendulum Summon. Yasuko watched carefully as Yuya already took out his cards.

"S-Sure..." Yuya muttered as he showed the cards. With one swing, the student swiftly takes both cards out of Yuya's hands.

"Here," The student replied, showing the cards to the other three boys.

"Awesome!" The three of them exclaimed.

"So, these are the cards you can use to Pendulum Summon!" One student exclaimed in amazement.

"I want 'em so bad!" Another cried out in joy. But then, the leading student took the cards from his two friends.

"Gentlemen. You can't have these cards, they aren't yours. Isn't that right?" The student sneered. "After all, I'm adding them to _my collection,_ " The student smirked. While the three boys were sniggering, Yuya, Zuzu, and the three little kids were all shocked to hear and see this.

"So, that's how it goes then, huh?" said Yasuko, narrowing her eyes further to become a frown of disappointment. "He was faking it from the beginning just so he could get his hands on those cards."

"Huh!?" Yuya gasped.

"Hold on! What're you talking about!?" Zuzu snapped.

"I happen to be a collector for all rare and powerful cards, you see. And in my opinion, they're the only cards that are worth collecting," The LDS student laughed. "In other words, your cards are so unique that I just couldn't resist them!"

"So that's why you called us here!?" Zuzu snapped angrily. Yuya was angry too until the leader of the group shrugged.

"That's not the only reason" The leader explained. "You see, I need to learn how to use the cards." He pocketed the cards in his jacket before turning to his three friends. "You guys want to see a Pendulum Summon, don't ya?" The leader asked with a sneer.

His boys were all eager with excitement to see the use of Pendulum summon up close. With that, the leader took out his dark turquoise Duel Disk. "That's why I reserved the center court," The leader added, as Yuya grew hesitant.

"H-Hold on!" Yuya started, only for the leader to walk to them with a sneer.

"It's fine! We all came here to see the Pendulum Summon... don't we now?" The leader taunted. He stretched Yuya's goggles, before slapping them back on, causing him to fall back, wincing in pain.

"Are you okay, Yuya?!" The little blue haired kid gasped.

Yasuko was watching everything from the entrance of the duel court. She wouldn't want to trouble his business, but she hates people who fiddles with someone as gullible like Yuya to take hold of those Pendulum cards.

"And with that..." The leader smirked. He snapped his fingers, signaling his minions to do the work. Two of them grabbed Zuzu, much to her shock. "Huh!? Hey! What do you think you're doing!?" Zuzu snapped angrily. The two didn't respond as they dragged her away, with the bigger one grabbing the kids.

Yasuko's hands clenched together to form fists that looked white. Her frowns turn to a glare that seeing these acts are disgusting in her nature.

All the kids and Zuzu were panicking at the hostage situation. At this, the Yuya grew shocked frantic of what to do. "Stop it! Let Zuzu and the kids go!" Yuya demanded, but the leader just gave him a smirk.

"No need for you to worry about them! I'm just gonna have them lend us a hand in our Duel," The leader explained.

"In our Duel?" Yuya repeated in confusion. At the question, the leader was reminded of something as he took out some cards from his jacket.

"Oh yeah, by the way, I have a little something as a gift for the Pendulum cards. I feel bad that only you gave me cards, so... I'm givin' all of 'em to you!" The leader explained, throwing the cards at Yuya's feet. He saw many cards that are worthless to his eyes. He was showing cards that would be useless in a duel if they can't be able to win against an opponent.

"Those cards are worthless like you!" The leader laughed with an evil smirk.

Yuya grew speechless with what his new enemy aid as he bit his lips. "No cards are worthless, and yet, you called them trashy? How could you...?" Yuya repeated as he knelt, picking up the cards.

Yasuko saw how Yuya was affectionate to the cards regardless of how useful they could be in a duel. She takes the moment to think about how rude the leader was to Yuya and his friends. Picking on the weak is one of the things she hates. In her mind, it was time to act. Yasuko took a step forward, revealing herself by the entrance of the duel court. "Hey douchebag!" she snapped coldly and loudly at the leader.

He seemed to have heard her rant, noticing her appearance at the entrance. "What!? Who said that?!" the leader turns his head around so many times until his eyes stops at Yasuko. "And who might you be!?" The leader snapped. Yuya turn his attention towards Yasuko along with his four friends and the leader's other three friends.

"Ah, Yasuko!" Yuya gasped.

The leader heard Yuya calling to her name. "Huh? Yasuko?" the leader repeated.

"Yeah, my name is Yasuko Yukihana, and I believe you're making a mistake there," Yasuko announced, walking up towards the center. "Stealing cards just because they're rare is completely pathetic. You call yourself a duelist for stealing somethng valuable? I don't think you're even worthy of being a duelist. I think you're just a cowardly stupid boy who's an ebmarrassment to your mom," she retorted coldly, pointing at the leader with annoyance. Yasuko continues to walk towards the center until she stops besides Yuya, glaring at the LDS leader.

At the insult, the leader gritted his teeth, looking furious of what Yasuko had said to him. "What... did you... just say!?" The leader growled slowly. Yasuko lowered her eyes as a clarification to her insult.

"You heard me. You're just a cowardly thorn in the ass who doesn't care about anything about cards," Yasuko added. "You think they're worthless because you never used them. I bet you're even worthless as a duelist student because even you couldn't even duel with a sock, blondie!"

The more Yasuko keeps talking down about him, the more the leader is infuriated. The leader clenched his fists, as he glared at Yasuko vigorously. "Alright then, fine! You're the first person I'll duel and then, Yuya Sakaki is next!" he declared, pointing his finger at Yasuko.

"A one-on-one duel isn't gonna cut it, so why not we amp it up with a four-way duel." Yasuko jabs her thumb at the students by the corner. "Send in one of your monkeys in and then, you can have one of them take the kids as hostages." Yuya was shocked even more. Yasuko showed up and she just declared a battle royal against the leader and his goon. He was for sure she's gone crazy to match against the leader.

Yuya got up, trying to stop her from escalating the mach. "Wait! Yasuko, you can't just barge into this make it a four-way duel!" he protested. "This is my Duel! And that means I have to duel him!" Yuya pleaded.

Yasuko glances over her shoulder at Yuya begging to stop. "No thanks, I made my choice," Yasuko replied. "Your new friend here has already stepped onto the danger zone, so there's no need to back out."

"He's not my friend!" Yuya protested anything he has with the LDS leader.

"I thought you and douchebag were friends?" Yasuko inquired.

"We're not!" he shouted.

"Hey, who are you calling douchebag!?" The leader exclaimed. "For you should know, I am Sylvio Sawatari, and I am the son of the Furio Sawatari, the re-elected mayor of—"

"Never heard of you," Yasuko interrupted his introduction. Sylvio paused, feeling white in his skin to hear that no one has ever heard of him. "But if you're gonna do some introductions, then I suggest you say it…" Yasuko drops her bags on the floor and picks out her duel disk from her holster. She puts on her duel disk on her left wrist. Her Disk was coded ina green body just like Sylvio's and a blue blade glows out from her duel disk. " _After…_ I kicked you and your buddy here to the bringer," Yasuko declares her words firmly.

Sylvio, smirking with enjoyment, feels confident enough to accept her challenge. "Alright then…" Sylvio looks over to the group and picks his first guy to choose in the duel. "You! Yamabe, you're with me! I'm gonna pick the Action field now! Tower above us as you trap the frail princesses!" The leader yelled. He snapped his fingers, calling for the Action Field. "Action Field, on! And I choose... **Prison Tower of Darkville**!"

On his words, the ARC machine lights on the ground to activate the Field Spell that was selected, summoning a real-life looking town, with Zuzu and the three kids screaming in shock. Chains spread around as a tower shot up beneath the four.

"Zuzu!" Yuya gasped.

Yasuko didn't react to the screams for she was focusing on her opponents. Sylvio and Yamabe were both standing at one building rising from the ground. Yasuko and Yuya stand still as one of the building rose from their side.

"Ya know, a prison tower needs to have prisoners," Sylvio taunted. "Don't they?"

Yasuko turned to the leader while Yuya tried to run for his friends. "So, you're taking hostages now?" Yasuko inquired. "I would've thought you'd be some of a challenge, guess my luck's run out for a sorry ass dude like you," Yasuko insulted Sylvio so easily that he got tempered, stomping his feet.

"What was that?! Just shut up will ya! The duels' already set up, and we're the ones who are gonna kick you to the bringer!" Sylvio retorted.

"Whatever, idiot," Yasuko retorted before jumping down from the building. She landed on the alleyway before Yuya came running to her way, trying to get to the prison tower that is holding Zuzu and the little children. Soon, they were all standing in the middle of the dark town on the path.

"Hang on you guys!" Yuya yelled. "I'm coming!" Yasuko's face frowned, seeing how deeply concerned Yuya was for his friends until she stops him from going to the tower. She grabs his arm, stopping him from getting to the tower. "What are you doing? I have to save my friends!" Yuya snapped as he wrenched his arm away.

Yasuko gives a hard stare. "Yuya, if you want to save your friends, then you have to duel," Yasuko grunted, trying to stop him from going to the tower.

Yuya grits his teeth in anger and to a step forward. He glared at Yasuko for starting all of this. "This wasn't supposed to be your duel!" Yuya retorted. "I should be the one dueling him! Not you, you idiot! This is my responsibility and I have to take it!"

"If you are taking responsibility, then why did you believe in that guy and gave him your Pendulum Cards?" Yasuko questioned. Yuya paused for a split second, letting all his anger at Yasuko go away. "You let yourself distracted. And in the end, you ended up getting swagged again. The most important thing you can do is duel Sylvio and his goon," she explained.

"The girl's got the point." Sylvio and Yamabe were both standing on top of the building in front of them. "If you wanna save 'em, then come and duel against me with your new friend... Yuya Sakaki," Sylvio insisted. He and Yamabe had their duel disk activated, so Yuya was the only one who hasn't activated his duel disk. Yasuko and Yuya glared at Sylvio and his buddy, Yamabe.

"Sawatari..." Yuya hissed his name. "Alright then…" he declared as he takes out his red Duel Disk. He activated it, forming a solid yellow blade.

"Since there are four of us, I'd say we make it a tag team duel," Sylvio stated. "The rules of a tag team duel is simple. We all use one field, one graveyard, and one life point system. We all share those in the duel," Yuya frowned while Yasuko glowered.

"That's fine by me," said Yasuko. She didn't notice that Yuya had inserted one of the cards that Sylvio threw in his Deck.

"Yuya…" Yasuko declared, gaining Yuya's attention. "Whatever happens, don't let your personal feelings get in the way. You may not know who I am, but let's just put everything aside and focus on the duel."

Yuya stared at Yasuko. She is looking at her opponents with a serious firm face. "Right… uh, Yasuko." With all four-duel disk glowing the blades, the duelist gathered at the center where they'll be dueling their opponents.

"Now that you and your new friend has finally found your resolves! You're gonna teach me everything you know about pendulum and then..." Sawatari called. "We'll crush you!"

"You're gonna show us how to Pendulum Summon!" said one of Sylvio's buddies.

"He's already taken your Pendulum monsters," another one of his buddies added.

"And now, we're gonna pulp that puny brain of yours," said Yamabe.

"Right, in that case then…" Yasuko added. "Let the student surpass the teacher."

Sylvio gives her a smirk. "Well then...I shall be the one who surpasses all…"

With all four duelists together for a tag team showdown, and declared in unison.

" _ **Let's duel!"**_

* * *

 **So in the next chapter, there will be a duel, but it'll take a lot of time just to play out the strategies and fall them in correctly. And in case you wonder why I didn't put much personality for the character is because I want her to be, at most, a reserved character. I want to make sure that character is still just as stoic as possible. It's actually one of my favorite types of characters I love to write about.**

 **Anyways, I hoped you've enjoyed reading this chapter so far. I know I write a lot, but I thank you for taking the time to read this through. I will try to post the next chapter as soon as possible, hopefully not too long though.**


	4. Chapter 4: Tag Team Duel Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 4: Sylvio and Yamabe vs. Yasuko and Yuya_

* * *

 **Sylvio and Yamabe LP:4000**

 **VS**

 **Yuya and Yasuko LP: 4000**

The duel has started with a bubble full of Action Cards bursting in the sky to allow the cards to fly everywhere in the field for the duelists to find.

Sylvio and Yamabe were so eager to use the Pendulum cards that Sylvio stole. Yuya and Yasuko had mixed expressions on the duel. Yuya wanted to save Zuzu and the children, but with tag team duel, it'll be narrowing his chances of succeeding with Yasuko sharing the field. Yasuko, on the other hand, was calm and focused. She doesn't care much about the hostages, but she hoped she would do her best for her tag team partner since this will be a tag duel.

 **Turn 1: Yuya (5x cards)**

"Alright, it's my move!" said Yuya. He runs pass Sylvio and Yamabe, leaving them alone with Yasuko. He enters a building and runs upstairs. "I draw, and I first summon Performapal Whip Snake!" Yuya draws a card and Normal Summons **Performapal Whip Snake (ATK 1700/DEF 900)**.

A purple cobra snake dressed like a performer appeared, coiling around Yuya's right arm. "Let's swing into action!" Yuya declared. He launched the snake as it was used as a rope, allowing Yuya to swing across one building to another. "And that'll be it! I end my turn!" Yuya concluded before he starts making another run to the other building.

 **Turn 2: Yamabe (5x cards)**

"Alright then! It's my move!" Yamabe jeered, as he draws a card from his deck. By looking at his hand, he smirked spitefully, seeing his good hand that is perfect to start his turn. "From my hand, I summon Koa'ki Meiru Boulder in Attack mode!" Yamabe Normal summons **Koa'ki Meiru Boulder (ATK 1200/DEF 1000)** in attack mode.

As he played that card, a giant boulder monster rose in front of Sylvio and Yamabe with red eyes and little limbs sticking outwards to stand tall.

"And I'll end my turn with that!" Yamabe concluded, ending his first turn with a summon.

 **Turn 3: Yasuko (5x cards)**

"That's it?" Yasuko inquired. "I expected some more, but it's my turn now… I draw!" Yasuko draws her first card. Like Yuya, she makes a run towards building and goes through the set of stairs to find a window she can jump out. She looks at her handset to see what she will do first. She then picks one card.

"I'll be taking the skies by summoning Masked Dragon!" Yasuko declared as she Normal Summons **Masked Dragon (ATK 1400/DEF 1100)**. She sprinted her way to the window at one of the buildings and leaped out in the open, but at the same time, a khaki armored dragon with red underbelly scales forms in the air, roaring like a real dragon.

Yasuko lands on the dragon and holds onto her monster as she flies off into the night sky. "Battle! I attack Koa'ki Meiru Boulder with Masked Dragon!" she declared. "Burn that pile of rock to the earth!" The dragon flew in circles above Yamabe before the monster comes down and lets a flaming burst out of its mouth to melt the boulder. The monster disintegrates into dust and burning their life points

 **(Sawatari and Yamabe: LP 4000 → 3800)**

They cover their faces from the fire that was blasted close to them as Yasuko flies away. "Next, I set one card face down and end my turn," Yasuko concluded, as she Sets a Card face-down in their field. The dragon was sorrowing in the night sky while Yasuko starts hunting for Action Cards she could use in her duel.

 **Turn 4: Sylvio (5x cards)**

Sylvio looked on at the two fleeing duelists. He smirked, thinking that this is all they'll be doing: running away instead of facing their opponents. "You better run, you little twerps." Sylvio draws his first card. He looks at his hand with some thought to it. There was **Timegazer Magician** in his hand. Smirking in delight, he had what he needs, and he was about to play the card, but before he could do it, he suddenly flinches when his Duel disk comes to life with someone calling to him.

"Stop right there," A mysterious voice suddenly called to him. He paused right there, begin to flinch at the words that are coming out from him. "It's not time for that card yet." His cold voice sends chills to the duelist's spine.

Sylvio lowers his mouth to his duel disk to speak with the person. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but I was in the middle of something good, so don't interfere!" he whispered, protesting what the voice tells him to do before the voice replied, even colder than before.

"I said it's not time for that card...and you _will_ obey me…" Sylvio froze for a moment, gritting his teeth that the stranger he was talking to has more authority over him than he does. He began to sweat nervously before wiping his forehead, chuckling. "It doesn't matter...I'll save this monster for the final blow."

He didn't realize that Yamabe was standing beside him. "Who are you talking too?" he asked.

Sylvio forgot that his partner is standing right there before he dismissed it. "Ah, it was nothing, now then…" Sylvio dismisses as he chose another card to play. "I summon Lightning Hoverboard!" Sylvio Normal Summons **Lightning Hoverboard (ATK 1400/DEF 1200).** An electric hoverboard monster appeared, allowing Sawatari to ride on it.

Yamabe noticed that he was left alone, and all the other duelists have left, so he tries to catch up to him. "Hey! Wait for me!" Yamabe panicked and ran straight after Sawatari.

It was a race between two teams, making their way towards the prison tower on the bridge. Yuya continues to swing with his Whip Snake, Yasuko flies just low enough to see Yuya running on her dragon, Sylvio was catching up to her on his Hoverboard, and Yamabe is far behind.

Sylvio's Hoverboard rides on the rooftops at the same height as Yasuko flying on her dragon. He was gleaming at her coolly, much to Yasuko's irritation.

"You're acting cool," she said.

"Don't I?" Sylvio sneered.

"Where the hell's your lapdog, hope he didn't fall behind, did he?" she asked about his partner.

"Oh, he'll catch up, but surely you would've made a consideration. For you to be getting involved in my Duel," Sylvio taunted at Yasuko. "If you don't back down, then you're only gonna get them into deep danger."

Yasuko steals one glance at the boy next to her. "Said who to the guy who's taking hostages," she replied. "What's next? A rubber band gun to sling your sorry ass off the table?"

Sylvio got angered very easily from her insult, clenching his fists in front of him. "What was that?!" he exclaimed.

Before he could argue back, Yasuko flies ahead to block off Sylvio's insults and focused on the duel. The risk of losing is a higher probability in tag duels if they don't make the right moves; otherwise, it'll cost them their life points.

Yuya launches his Whipsnake onto a bridge cable and swings himself to get on the bridge first. Sylvio slows down for a bit while Yasuko followed, flying above the river.

Yuya looked around on the bridge for any Action Cards he could find, and he manages to spot one. "There! An Action Card!" Yuya called. He ran up to pick up the card, but only for it to be an Action Trap Card, **Break Shot**. "It's a trap card!" Yuya cried.

Sylvio pops up on a hologram videocam from his duel disk. "Indeed, it is," Sylvio smirked. "It's an Action Trap called Break Shot. It decreases one of your monster's attack points by 900." When Break Shot was activated, Yuya saw multiple pinballs coming from all sides on the bridge. He screamed as he was forced to run on the pinball he was on while Whip Snake was rolled over by a pool ball, weakened.

 **(Performapal Whip Snake: ATK 1700 → 800)**

"Whip Snake!" Yuya called to his monster.

Yasuko's face manages to pop up on his screen, communicating with him. "Be careful Yuya, not all Action Cards have positive effects, you know?" she explained, calling through his Duel Disk. "There's also some Trap Cards among them."

Yuya was shocked, never knowing that there could be trap cards that would backfire on the person who picks it up. "Seriously, now you're telling this?!" he exclaimed.

"Hey! I've been here for two days, and this is what I've learned so far!" Yasuko argued. "God! I can't believe that you're even useless!" Yasuko was flying so high in the air that she could see the entire field that is stretching across the river and the hills. She saw Yuya heading straight for a wall. "Hey, Yuya! In front of you!" Yasuko yelled.

"In front of...WAAHH!" Before Yuya could ask, it was too late. The Entertainment Duelist screamed, hitting his face against the bridge wall, while all the pinballs went past the bridge. However, it caused a tremble on the tower, causing the children and Zuzu to scream in panic.

Yasuko flew past the tower, gritting her teeth in frustration. "Damn it all!" she irritated. "How the hell am I suppose to find something that of a card in this huge place?" Her eyes rover for the small rectangle shaped object lying around. It's proven to be more difficult than she thought it was.

"Now then… it's time for the main event," said Sylvio before declaring his move. "I attack Whipsnake with my Lightning Board!" Sylvio points at Yuya's weakened monster. Lightning Hoverboard attacks Whipsnake with dozens of lightning strikes coming from underneath.

Yuya sprints across the bridge to find any more Action Cards, which he did, by the ledge. "Over there! An Action Card…" Yuya picks up the Action card, which turns out to be another trap card. "Ah, What!? Another Trap?!" Yuya groaned, seeing that he's picked another Action Trap Card; **Jump Shot**

"Ha Ha Ha Ha! Sucks for you, Yuya! It's the Action Trap called, Jump Shot!" Sylvio laughed at this and explained the details. "This time, it reduces a monster's ATK points by 400!" When the trap card was activated, a giant wall ball flew out of nowhere and slammed Whip Snake flat on the ground, affecting the monster's attack points.

 **(Performapal Whip Snake: ATK 800 → 400)**.

Yasuko moves around quickly for any cards she sees. Luckily, she spots an Action Card on the support railings and flies right over to grab it. She picked it up and saw that she picked up an Action Spell Card; **Miracle**. "I activate the Action Spell card, Miracle!" Yasuko called. "This card can stop our monster from being destroyed, and all battle damage we took is halved!" Yasuko has him, but she was mistaken.

"Not so fast!" Yamabe panted, finally catching up to the scene. "I activate this! Action Spell Card, **No Action**!" Yasuko was caught by surprise that Sylvio's lapdog was able to obtain an Action Card while he was on his way to the battle. "I snagged this on my way, and whenever my opponents use an Action Spell card, this card can negate and destroyed that card!" Yamabe called, activating the Action Card he got along the way.

"Ha, see! I told ya he would catch up!" Sylvio laughed, taunting Yasuko before turning to his partner. "Thanks for that."

"Are you kidding!?" Yasuko exclaimed. Her Duel Disk shows the Action Card she just played got negated by another Action Card. Yasuko grits her teeth, eyeing on one of her face-down cards that are still on the field. "I activate the Trap; Dimension Wall!" Yasuko activates her Trap Card, **Dimension Wall**.

Yamabe, Sylvio, and Yuya were surprised to see this trap card as she explained the effects. "Huh, a Trap?" Sylvio gasped.

"Dimension Wall can deflect battle damage if an opponent attacks a monster on the field, which is our monster, and the damage goes to both of you!" Yasuko explained.

"Wait what?!" Yamabe gasped.

"You mean… we get all that damage?!" Sylvio added.

The trap card startled both Yamabe and Sylvio for they are the ones who will receive the damage and not them. Sylvio couldn't stop his attack as Whipsnake gets destroyed by the lightning bolts, but two portals opened above Yamabe and Sylvio. They shoot out the same lightning bolts that hit both Yamabe and Sylvio. They all scream as if they are being shocked by the electricity.

 **(Sylvio and Yamabe: LP 3800 → 2800)**

"Alright, nice one!" Yuya cheered. "Thanks, Yasuko! You save us!"

"Watch your head!" Yasuko suddenly called.

Before Yuya could ask, the Jump Shot giant white pool ball falls very fast, nearly missed Yuya, who jumps out of the way, while bouncing back up in the air again.

Yasuko saw the ball go up past her, flying very high to where Zuzu and the children are standing. They saw the ball and got confused about how a giant ball got very high up in the air. The ball then falls like a giant boulder and smashed through the bridge. Half of the bridge collapsed along with Yuya, who was falling into the river.

He screamed for his life, but then, the red dragon swooped in and snatched Yuya by the arms with its claws. "Ah...Y-Yasuko?" Yuya inquired, looking up to Yasuko riding her dragon. "You…You save me?"

"You're my tag team partner," said Yasuko. "You're supposed to look out for your partners, that's what a tag team duel's all about." Yuya stared at Yasuko's determined face. She has completely vented all her emotions, regardless of what happens to Zuzu and the children, and focuses on taking care of herself and him. Yasuko's dragon flew down to the nearby dock.

Sylvio and Yamabe recover quickly after Yasuko's trap card, and each one of them was glaring at her with such animosity. "Damn her for putting that trap in the first place…" Sylvio growled. "I'll get her for this…"

Somewhere nearby was a small dock where Yasuko's dragon could land Yuya on dry land. The dragon lightly drops Yuya and Yasuko jumps down from her dragon. "Thanks, you save us back there." Yuya expresses his gratitude, but Yasuko only glares at him.

"I told you already, Yuya," Yasuko spoke to Yuya. "Don't let your emotions interfere with the duel. We're not dueling separately, you know."

Yuya turns down; he didn't expect her to get judgmental on his choice. "Well geesh, thanks for the head's up," he muttered.

Yasuko and Yuya heard more screams coming from the tower. They all turned their heads to look up and see that the tower was starting to give away. Half of the bridge was gone, and that couldn't support the tower prison. Yasuko and Yuya watch them holding on for dear life. Yasuko remains stony on her face, and Yuya is feeling more distressed. "I've got to help them!" Yuya called out.

"Then show me how to Pendulum Summon." Sylvio's voice echoed nearby. Yuya and Yasuko turned their heads towards Yamabe and Sylvio, who was standing there in front of them. "And if you do...we may save your friends."

Yasuko jabs her thumb at Yuya. "If you want to know about Pendulum Summon, then just try and force him to tell you."

He looks completely dumbstruck at her decision, taking a step forward with a fist. "Hey!" Yuya exclaimed. "I'm not gonna tell him anything, and I will save them!"

 **Turn 5: Yuya (5x cards)**

"I draw!" Yuya draws a card from his deck and saw what he can do. "If I can't get to them by foot, then I guess I'll just have to get to them by water, by summoning Performapal Skeeter Skimmer in attack mode!" Yuya called. He Normal Summons **Performapal Skeeter Skimmer (ATK 0500/DEF 1600)**

A water mosquito with a performance outfit appears in the river. Yuya jumps onto his monster and rides on the river. He heads towards the ruined tower with his monster, leaving Yasuko and her dragon with the two LDS students.

 **Turn 6: Yamabe (5x Cards)**

"Well, guess it's my turn then. I draw!" Yamabe declared, drawing a card. He looks at his hand and picks one. "I activate the Urgent Synthesis Spell Card!" Yamabe activates a spell card from his hand called **Urgent Synthesis**."With this card, I can get the Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru spell card from my graveyard, add it to my deck, and I get to Special Summon one Level 4 or below Koa'ki Meiru from my hand!" Yamabe adds the Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru from his graveyard and injects it into his deck. "So here comes Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak!" Yamabe Special Summons **Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak** **(ATK 2000/DEF 200)**. On the field, a dark warrior with a symbol on the left chest wielding two swords appears in front of Yamabe.

"Next, I'll be summoning, my Koa'ki Meiru Powerhand!" Yamabe declared. He Normal summons **Koa'ki Meiru Powerhand (ATK: 2100/DEF 1600)**. The ground was drilled through by a humanoid machine with drills being crunched together as its body with one eye staring out in the front.

"Battle! Powerhand attack Masked Dragon!" Yamabe declared his first attack on Yasuko's monster. "Now go! Drill that dragon to the ground!" Left with no trap cards, Yasuko watches as the monster sends three drills that pierced through her dragon. Masked Dragon exploded, sending away life points. She grits her teeth, covering her head while smoke spreads all around her.

 **(Yuya and Yasuko: LP 4000 → 3300)**

"Cheap ass move," Yasuko muttered, recovering herself to start her move. "I activate my Masked Dragon's special effect!" she declared. "If Masked Dragon is ever destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon one Dragon-type monster from my deck as long as it has 1500 or less ATK points." Her deck ejects one card she chose to summon. "I Special Summon Darkblaze Dragon!" As per said by the effects of Masked Dragon, Yasuko Special Summons **Darkblaze Dragon (ATK: 1200/DEF 1000).** On Yasuko's side of the field, a black armored, four-winged dragon with orange scales and green eyes appears from the portal and flies in the air before landing beside Yasuko. Its snarling sharp teeth growls to let its prey know that is has come to play.

Yamabe wasn't impressed with the monster. Despite being a level 7, the dragon only has fewer attack points. "Whatever. That won't beat any of our monsters. I attack Darkblaze Dragon with my Bergzak!" The dark warrior leaps up in the air and wields two blades to slash twice on the black armored dragon, destroying it with an explosion, costing more life points for Yuya and Yasuko.

 **(Yuya and Yasuko: LP 3300 → 2500)**

The shockwave from the explosion causes the winds to rise and blew into their face. They cover as they saw what happened. Only Yuya's monster remains on the field while the other team has two powerful monsters.

"And now I activate Bergzak's special effect!" Yamabe shouted. "If it successfully destroys one monster on the field in battle, I can attack again! So, I'm going cut that bug over there into ribbons!" he pointed at Yuya's monster. "Go! Attack Skeeter Skimmer with Double Slash!" The warrior leaps up again and raises two swords to slice the mosquito.

"I activate Skeeter Skimmer's special effect!" Yuya declared suddenly. "Whenever it's attacked, Skeeter Skimmer gets switched to defense mode to negate one of your attacks!" As demonstrated, the mosquito monster switches to defense mode and the warrior monster hit only an invisible force field before hopping back on the deck.

"Tch! Lucky move. Oh, and once every End Phase, if I don't send at least one Iron Koa'ki Meiru spell card to the graveyard, then Powerhand and Bergzak goes to the graveyard, so that's what I'm gonna do." Yamabe sends his **Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru** and **Koa'ki Meiru War Arms** to the graveyard. "I'm discarding my Iron Core Spell card for Powerhand and my Koa'ki Meiru War Arms for Bergzak to the graveyard to keep my monsters on the field."

 **Turn 7: Yasuko (4x cards)**

"My turn now, I draw!" Yasuko called, as she draws a card. She looks at the card, and it was the perfect time to be doing it. "I activate the spell card, Return of the Dragon Lord!" Yasuko activates the Spell Card; **Return of the Dragon Lord.** "This spell card allows me to target one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster in my graveyard and Special Summon, so I resurrect my Darkblaze Dragon!" As described, Yasuko's spell card opens a portal and out came the dark armored **Darkblaze Dragon** roaring back to life.

Yamabe was not impressed with her summoning back the monster with the lowest attack points. "Why bother summoning that thing? My monsters got way more ATK points," he pointed out.

"Perhaps, but thanks to its special effect, Darkblaze Dragon's ATK and DEF points doubled whenever it's Special Summoned from the graveyard," Yasuko explained, much to Yamabe's shock.

"What, you mean…It's ATK and DEF points are doubled?!" Yamabe gasped.

The dark dragon roars like it was the dominant predator in the field thanks to the special effect that doubles its attack points.

 **(Darkblaze Dragon: ATK 1200 → 2400/DEF 1000 → 2000)**

Yamabe and Sylvio's mouth broke ajar when they didn't realize how the dragon is more powerful than any of their monsters.

"It…It's got more attack points than any of our monster?" Sylvio uttered.

The girl points at their weakest monster on the field. "Battle!" Yasuko declared. "I attack Lightning Hoverboard with my Darkblaze Dragon!" The dark armored dragon opens its mouth to let orange light illuminate in the field. Once the mouth is bright enough, the dragon unleashes a powerful orange laser beam straight for Lightning Hoverboard. The monster explodes after the beam hits it, causing a massive explosion to send Yamabe and Sylvio back behind the wall.

 **(Sawatari and Yamabe: LP 2800 → 1800)**

Yasuko kept her eyes on the two duelists in front of her as she makes another explanation about her dragon. "Oh, and I didn't forget about Darkblaze Dragon's other special ability. If the dragon successfully destroys a monster on the field, you take damage equal to your monster's original attack points."

Sylvio manages to lift his head and heard what she just said to him. "What?" he groaned.

 **(Sawatari and Yamabe: LP 1800 → 400)**

Yuya was looking at Yasuko with amazement. Her cool face shows no satisfaction, but she is beating them. It was a relief for him. "That was awesome, Yasuko!" he cheered.

Yasuko's eyes closed and turned her head away from Yuya. "Whatever, I'm doing this because I don't want to lose when you're with me, you slacker," she said as Yasuko draws out two cards. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Yasuko Sets two cards.

 **Turn 8: Sawatari (4x cards)**

Sylvio and Yamabe stood back up and glare at the cynical duelist who made only a humiliation on them. Sylvio wasn't going to tolerate her interfering the plan.

"That's it!" Sylvio exclaimed after seeing Yasuko reducing their life points by the effect of her dragon. "It's time to get serious! I'm going to get you for that last turn! I draw!" Sylvio draws a card. He looks at the card and smirked. He finally got what he needs.

Looking over to Yamabe, Sylvio makes a quick assistance. "Well, looks like it's my lucky day. I'm going to need your Powerhand," he tells Yamabe, "as a tribute for my Spell Card, Tribute Trade!" Sylvio activates a spell card called **Tribute Trade**. "I can add one monster that's one level higher than the tributed monster from my Deck to my hand, and I think I shall choose the Level 5, Stargazer Magician!" Sylvio tributes Yamabe's Koa'ki Meiru Powerhand so that he can get Yuya's stolen Pendulum Card.

Both Yuya and Yasuko widen their eyes, seeing the card in their opponent's hand.

"He's gonna use my Stargazer Magician!?..." Yuya gasped in surprise.

"Well, that seemed to got your attention," said Sylvio, holding out the Pendulum Card. "You know what's coming next, you know?" Yuya recalled how to make a perfect pendulum summon.

"But you can't use one Pendulum Card by itself!" Yuya reminded.

"That may be true…unless he's already got that second set complete," Yasuko suddenly burst out the answer.

Yuya looks onto her with some confusion. "What?" Yuya paused for a moment to think. When the duel started, he didn't know what was coming, but then he finally realized what she meant. "You mean…"

Sylvio started to laugh when Yasuko was already on to him. "Looks like you've finally made your point, Yasuko," Sylvio remarked. "I always made a plan ahead."

Yasuko narrowed her eyes cautiously, predicting what he was about to do next. "So, you do have it. The one called Timegazer Magician?" Yasuko speculated, which earned a remarkable chuckle from Sylvio.

"Correct, I've got access to all the cards now." Sylvio placed Timegazer Magician next to the card he drew from the beginning of the Duel. "I have Stargazer and Timegazer Magicians. It's been there from the start in fact." Yuya started to grow more frightened when he finally realized Sylvio has both his Pendulum cards in his hand. Yasuko mentally prepares herself for what he will do with those cards.

You refuse to show me how to Pendulum Summon, so if you can pull it off, then so does the rest of anyone can." Sylvio started to laugh hysterically, holding his head.

When Sylvio was laughing, he heard the same voice from his Duel Disk, unknown to both Yuya and Yasuko. _"_ The first step is to set your Pendulum Cards, _"_ The voice ordered, leaving him to stop laughing and blink.

"H-Huh?" Sylvio yelped as the man gave him the same order.

"Do exactly as you were told...you will start with Scale 1 Stargazer Magician... _"_ The man started, causing Sylvio to follow along.

"If you insisted…" Sylvio said lowly. "For my first move, I use my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician..." he started.

"Can he do it? I thought I was the only one," Yuya startled, leaving the female duelist to glance at her partner before facing forward.

Sylvio follows what the voice told him to do. "And you also use your Scale 8 Timegazer Magician," The voice instructed as Sylvio did the same.

"...and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician..." Sylvio copied.

"...to set the Pendulum Scale!" Both the voice and Sylvio declared in unison.

With that done, Sylvio slapped **Stargazer Magician** **(Scale 1)** and **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8)** on both edges of his green blade Duel Disk. The word, "PENDULUM", appeared on the duel disk, creating two pillars of lights from the field with Timegazer Magician appearing on the left Stargazer Magician on the right.

Yuya and Yasuko are witnessing someone else besides Yuya to make a Pendulum Summon

"I _**Pendulum Summon**_!" The voice and Sylvio both declared as Sylvio makes the Pendulum Summon. From between the two pillars of light, a portal expands, and three lights zoomed out for three monsters to be summoned out on the field.

"Allow me to introduce to you, my Level 5! Power Dart Striker, Level 6! Rocket Dart Striker, and finally, my powerful monster, the Level 7! Ultimate Dart Striker!" Sylvio called, Pendulum summoning his three darts shooting monsters. All three of Sylvio's monsters appeared with each one having dart cannons pointing at Yuya and Yasuko.

 **Power Dart Striker (ATK 1800/ DEF 700)** ; **Rocket Dart Striker (ATK 1900/ DEF 100)** ; and **Ultimate Dart Striker (ATK 2400/ DEF 300)** , all three monsters are stronger than Yasuko's dragon on the field and Yuya only has one monster that is just as weak as the rest of them. Yuya and Yasuko just witness three powerful humanoid monsters with dart cannons in their arms appear before their eyes. "Wow, awesome! So incredible! I actually did it! On my first try! Pendulum Summoning rocks! Ha ha ha ha ha!" Sylvio laughed in amazement. "I had to thank you for making me keep these Pendulum cards."

"Ah, wow!" Yamabe cheered, seeing how his boss could do the first Pendulum summon on his first turn. "That is so awesome, you're the man! Boss!"

Sylvio smirked, flipping his hair over to take his compliment. "Why thank you, after all...I am destined to become the Pendulum master!"

Yuya and Yasuko were getting a bit anxious since this was never done by anyone before. Yuya was looking upset. Yasuko's face look like it was scowling by the PendulumSummon.

With their opponent's current field set up, Yuya and Yasuko are making a fall since none of their monsters don't have the strength to stop these four powerful monsters. Yuya seems to have lost his confidence in the Duel. After seeing someone else do the Pendulum summon, he wasn't determined anymore; in fact, he wasn't having fun with the Duel. He was so shocked and bewildered by his Pendulum Summon that his will to fight has vanished in just a split second.

"You're kidding... right?" Yuya whispered. "He actually pulled it off?"

Yasuko remained unfazed by his successful Pendulum Summon. Unlike Yuya, she is not afraid of him. She studied those two cards when she snatched them from Yuya at school. She read all those effects and what they can do. It's no surprise that someone like Sylvio can do a Pendulum Summon. For some reason, she wondered how Sylvio was able to do it since he just got those cards.

Turning her eyes to the three dart monsters in front of her, she happens to notice that one of the dart monsters is a level 7 and a level 5. " _So, that's how it is?"_ Yasuko thought. _"He can only Pendulum Summon based on those numbers underneath the diamond arrows, which means that he can summon the monsters whose levels are right between the Pendulum Scales."_ Her eyes rove back to the field full of monsters on Yamabe and Sylvio's side of the field. She is starting to suspect that Pendulum Summon involves with the Levels of a monster.

"Now, I've got three monsters and one monster that would make the total use of destruction to all of your monsters," Sylvio remarked the abilities that Pendulum summoning can do. "Thanks to Pendulum Summon, I've become the strongest duelist in the world," said Sylvio, pointing at the Yasuko's monster. "And I'm going to use this power by destroying that monster you've conjured. You'll be the perfect target for my Dart Strikers." Sylvio takes out one last card from his hand. "And to do so, I activate the spell card, Darts-Eye Gainer!" On his field, the spell card; **Darts-Eye Gainer** , appears on the field.

"What does that do?" Yasuko asked.

Sylvio swipes a bang off from his head. "I'm glad you asked," he smirked. "You see, this spell card gives my Dart monsters additional 400 attack points for every "Dart" monster I control on the field until the end of the turn, and since there are three "Dart" monsters; that means all three of my monsters gains 1200 ATK!" Each Dart monsters gets a flip up iron sight on their guns, giving them more attack points for each one.

 **(Power Dart Striker: ATK 1800 → 3000)**

 **(Rocket Dart Striker: ATK 1900 → 3100)**

 **(Ultimate Dart Striker: ATK 2400 → 3600)**

Yuya gasped in shock when he saw all three of Sylvio's monsters exceeding above Yasuko's dragon monsters on the field. "What? They're all above 3000 attack points?" he gulped.

Sylvio would expect a similar reaction like Yuya from Yasuko, but instead, she responded back with the same cool proficiency attitude she still has since the beginning of the duel. "Like that will do anything good," Yasuko scowled as she swings her hand over her duel disk to activate a trap card called **Shadow Spell**. "I activate the trap card! Shadow Spell!" Yasuko declared.

The trap card pops up and sprouts out black metal chains, and the chains wrap around Ultimate Dart Striker with a tight grip. The monster grunted as the warrior is not only trapped but loses some attack points.

 **(Ultimate Dart Striker: ATK 3600 → 2900)**

"What?!" Sylvio gasped. "Hey, how come my Dart Striker lose attack points?" He looks at his monster in shock.

"Shadow Spell can not only stop your monster from attacking, but he cannot change battle position," Yasuko explained. "In addition, it also cuts down your monster ATK points by 700."

Sylvio glares at her. "You little twerp!" he growled. "How dare you do this to me again?!"

The girl responded with a glare. "Bite me," Yasuko provoked.

"Fine then!" Sylvio exclaimed. "Battle! I attack Darkblaze Dragon with my Power Dart Striker!" He points at the dark dragon. "Have a taste of own medicine, you spoiled brat!" The orange dart monster points his gun-arm at the dragon. Locking is crosshairs at the dragon, the dart monster fires one of the darts at the dragon.

"Not even close to hitting its mark!" Yasuko suddenly exclaimed. "I activate the Return of the Dragon Lord Spell Card in my graveyard!"

"Huh?! From the graveyard!?" Sylvio gasped.

"That's right! By banishing the Return of the Dragon Lords spell card, I can save my Darkblaze Dragon from being destroyed in battle!" she explained as the rocket dart was intercepted by one of the wings from the dragon who swapped it out of the way for the missile to explode close by.

"Even so, you still take damage!" Sylvio reminded. One of the rocket that was swatted by Darkblaze Dragon ends up flying in a wobble toward Yasuko and Yuya. The monster doesn't get destroyed, but it's costing life points for Yuya and Yasuko as the missile exploded in front of them.

 **(Yuya and Yasuko: LP 2500 → 1900)**

The blast sends strong winds at their direction as Sylvio continues with his relentless assault against them. "With that spell card banished, my Rocket Dart Striker gets to attack that dragon again!" he exclaimed. "Blast it to oblivion!" This time, the pink female Dart monster aims her gun-arm at the dragon monster and fires one rocket dart. Darkblaze Dragon exploded and is destroyed, costing more life points for Yuya and Yasuko.

 **(Yuya and Yasuko: LP 1900 → 1200)**

"Bergzak will finish the both of you now!" Sylvio points at the mosquito. "As per the rule of tag team duel, I can use my partner's monsters whenever I choose to. I attack Skeeter Skimmer with Bergzak! His special effect allows us to attack twice if it destroys a monster in battle, so this is game over for the both of you!" The warrior jumps in the air and prepares to make a slash at Yuya's Skeeter Skimmer monster. It slices in two before the mosquito exploded, sending Yuya plummeting to the river with a loud scream.

Sylvio swipes a bang off of his face and smirks in satisfaction that his monster is dealing more damage to even their odds against the other team. "Looks like I'll end this match with just using Bergzak to finish you guys off, so I use Bergzak to attack you both directly!" He points at both Yuya and Yasuko. "Thanks to its special effect, if it destroys a monster in battle, it can attack again!" Sylvio said.

"Finish them off!" The warrior monster leaps into the air and takes out two red swords to slash both Yuya and Yasuko. Before he could make the cut; however, Yasuko makes a counterattack.

"Not so fast!" she exclaimed. "I play the trap card; Damage Diet!" Yasuko plays the trap card; **Damage Diet**. "This trap card halves all of the damages we took and that means all kind of damage, whether it's effect or battle!" The trap card springs a boxing glove that made the warrior monster clash with it, sending powerful shockwaves to the two duelists.

 **(Yuya and Yasuko: LP 1200** **→ 200)**

Sylvio could only growl through his teeth now that his attacks are finished. With Ultimate Dart Striker out, all he can do is end his turn. "You are so persistence! I end my turn with that!" he concluded. As he ends his turn, the Dart monster loses their attack points. "And now, my "Dart" monsters return to normal."

 **(Power Dart Striker: ATK 3000 → 1800)**

 **(Rocket Dart Striker: ATK 3100 → 1900)**

 **(Ultimate Dart Striker: ATK 2900 → 1700)**

 **Turn 9:** **Yuya (5x Cards)**

It was Yuya's next turn, but he didn't immediately go. He resurfaced back up and swam to a dock under the bridge while thinking about Sylvio's Pendulum Summon. When he saw how Sylvio made a Pendulum summon, he wasn't for sure that he can't continue the Duel.

" _But… but that was my summoning… I should be the one who should have it."_ He pondered his mind about his opponent making a successful Pendulum Summon. _"How can I let a guy like him make that successful?"_ Yuya looked at his pendant, thinking about the only person who would count on him. " _Dad, what should I do?"_

Yasuko sees how depressing Yuya must be feeling after someone like Sylvio performing a successful Pendulum Summon. She wonders if her partner would simply get over with the issue. Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, Yuya began to laugh. He laughed so hard that he almost fell off his monster.

Yasuko was confused about why he was laughing considering the situation they're facing. "Uh...Yuya?" Yasuko inquired.

"You're losing and you laughing? I guess this makes sense because your dueling's been lacking support for the girl," Sylvio taunted.

Yuya stands on his monster with a new resolution. "Alright, it's show time...I draw!" Yuya draws a card from his deck. He looks at it, and to his surprise, he drew Block Spider, the one card he added to his deck. He smiled, seeing that he's chosen the perfect card he needs.

"Yuya, did you draw something good?" Yasuko asked.

"Oh, you bet I did, and since you've got two monsters, I'll start by summoning Block Spider in attack mode!" Yuya declared. He Normal Summons **Block Spider** **(ATK 0/DEF 100).** From Yuya's left side, a spider appeared with its black body and sunglasses on.

Yasuko sagged her shoulders, realizing that the card Yuya played is a one-way ticket to getting pulverized by all those other monsters. "Really Yuya? You had to summon a monster that would get us killed?" Yasuko glares at Yuya like he was a disappointment.

"Hey, it's all I've got so far," Yuya defended, earning a skeptical look from Yasuko.

Yamabe and Sylvio laughed hysterically while Sylvio pointed at the bug he thrown away. "You're kidding. You summon that eight-legged loser?" Sylvio laughed. "He's just as pathetic as you are."

Despite their laughter, Yuya kept his face straight, smiling. "And it's all thanks to you for giving it to me," Yuya congratulated.

"Thank him?" Yasuko inquired. "You mean it's one of those pile that Sylvio just thrown away?"

Sylvio laughs loudly. "You mean it's one of my cards?" Sylvio was holding his hands up to prove his point. "I don't even remember having it in my deck."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at him. "That's because you've been collecting so much that you can't even remember how to Duel properly," Yasuko insulted.

Sylvio heard her and turned back towards the girl. "Say what?!"

"I'm just proving my point," said Yasuko, turning her head away.

"Now that I have Block Spider on the field, I can now play my Mimiclay Spell Card!" Yuya declares, while activating **Mimiclay.** "I have to switch Block Spider to defense mode and the spell card pops onto the field. A famous magician conjured Mimiclay so he can change the form of his clay into anything he wants. And that's what exactly I'm gonna do, I'll change it into any monster on the field! And not just their appearance! He can copy their abilities as well!" Yuya declared.

"That's interesting," Yasuko commented.

Sylvio only scoffs at his spell card. "So, you going to replicate one of my Dart monsters, is that it?" Sylvio inquired, expecting him to be copying his monster's abilities. "Or Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak?" he dared him to copy one of the monsters that is the strongest.

"Sorry, but you've been off the mark," Yuya replied. "I'm gonna be using Mimiclay to make another copy of Block Spider."

"What!?" Sylvio snapped in shock.

"He's gonna use his own monster?" Yamabe inquired.

"But what good would that do?" Yasuko frowned, before realizing why Yuya did that. Yuya's green clay forms itself to duplicate the form and abilities of Block Spider, giving Yuya two Block Spiders on the field. Yasuko saw two monsters looking the same that made her wonder. Why would Yuya copy his Block Spider? She pressed her finger to look at Block Spider. When the information popped up, she was amazed that this was a perfect strategy.

"I was a tad curious about what you'd do, but you just put two trashy cards on the field!" Sylvio sneered.

"You really are a terrible duelist, Sylvio," Yasuko declared suddenly. "Because of Mimiclay and Block Spider on the field, those two monsters are the same type and have the same powerful ability," she reminded Sylvio something that he does not recall.

"Powerful ability? What the heck are you saying?" Sylvio inquired.

"Yasuko's right! Now that there are two Block Spiders on my field, both will protect each other with their webs!" Yuya explained.

The two spiders formed a defensive spider web wall on Yuya which nullifies any attacks to all three of them. Yasuko was impressed of how Yuya managed to pull this off without the use of his Pendulum monster.

At that, Sylvio growled, flailing his arms in the air. "It's not funny, big mouth! Would you two just stop screwing up my plan!?" Sylvio snapped angrily.

The Entertainment Duelist looked at the two cards he had left in his hand before he Sets them. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Yuya declared.

 **Turn 10: Yamabe (2x card)**

"You think those bugs would help you?" Yamabe inquired. "Let's see if you have when I do this! During my Drawing Phase, I can select one Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru spell card from my graveyard and add it to my hand!" Yamabe takes the spell card and checks at what he's got in his hand. He smirks. "This may be the end for the both of you 'cause I activate Diamond Core of Koa'ki Mairu!" Yamabe played a Spell Card, **Diamond Core of Koa'ki Meiru**. "With this card, I can add a Koa'ki Meiru from my deck and I'll add one of my own powerful monsters."

Yuya and Yasuko heard him said it out loud and this was something that they are not looking forward to being confronting.

"You've got to be kidding me," Yasuko retorted.

"A powerful monster?" Yuya inquired.

"That's not good," murmured Yasuko.

"And now, I remove my Iron Core of Koa'ki Meiru from play to Special Summon, the most powerful monster in my deck!" A single light pierced through the river in front of Yamabe and Sylvio. "I summon my Koa'ki Meiru Maximus!" When Yamabe Special Summoned **Koa'ki Meiru Maximus (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)** , the ground began to shake, and Yasuko felt the tremble. The beam of light from the water began to expand. When the quake grew more violent, the water burst up and a chrome, alien-looking dragon monster flew from the pillar with wings spread out.

"Say hello to Maximus, and he's gonna total you and your monster!" Yamabe sneered, looking up to his most powerful monster. Yuya's mouth was opened in shock. Yasuko stared at the creature that landed behind Yamabe and Sylvio. Four monsters on their field are more powerful than the rest of theirs. From that menacing monster, it should be frightening to some, but Yasuko held a blank look on her face.

"Well, thing's got complicated," said Yasuko.

"And it's got 3000 ATK points," Yuya added, frightened by the amount of ATK points.

"That's okay," Yasuko reassured. "As long as both Mimiclay and Block Spider are on the field, he can't attack either one of them."

Yamabe expected his opponents to be protected thanks to Mimiclay copying Block Spider's effect. "Yeah, I was expecting that to happen because when I activate the Special Effect of my Maximus, this will be the end for both of you!" As explained, Yamabe demonstrates by gesturing to his alien dragon. "Once per turn, I can select one card you guys control on the field and destroy it! So, I'm gonna destroy that sloppy copycat clay doll you got over there!" He pointed at Yuya's spell card. Lightning from the alien dragon emits to send shocking statics to disintegrate the spell card.

"Oh no!" Yuya gasped.

"Now, it's time to get back at you guys!" Yamabe declared. "Now attack, go attack with Super Sonic Beam!" The alien dragon opens its mouth a silver light is charging inside.

Yasuko acted quickly and saw that there was Action Card flowing by Yuya's direction. "Yuya! There's an Action Card coming by! Hurry and grab it!" Yasuko called to Yuya.

Yuya heard her call and saw Action Card flowing in the water. Since there are no other action cards around her, Yasuko could only hope that her partner would get the card. Yuya extended his hand out to reach for the card; however, he paused right there before he could get it. He thought of the other Action Cards that lead him to a trap. He couldn't take another chance, believing that it could be another Trap like the last time.

"Yuya!" Yasuko yelled. "Get the Action card! Now! What the hell are you waiting for?! Take the Card!" Yuya looked between the Action Card and Yasuko. He should do what Yasuko told him to do, but the fear of getting a Trap was a chance he had to make. The choice was hard, getting a trap card that is worth their lost or losing their tag team match.

"No good! It could be a Trap!" Yuya grunted, turning away from the card.

"You asshole!" Yasuko exclaimed.

"Ahhh, looks like your partner's given up seeing if it was a Spell, so let's turn up this heat, Yamabe?" said Sylvio turning to his partner.

"Yes boss!" said Yamabe. "Go Maximus, attack that Block Spider!" The alien dragon unleashed a beam of white energy directly at the spider. Since Yuya did not grab the Action Card, she was forced to go and grab it and dives down to get to the Action card in the river fast before the beam hits Yuya's monster. Her hand reaches out for the card—

 _BOOOM!_

The white energy impacts the river with a loud explosion that causes a rise in the water. Yuya watched from his dock, standing up to see the horror that happened to his partner. He had the chance to help her and now she disappeared along with her monster. He was horrified that he screamed out her name.

"Y-Yasuko!"

* * *

Unnoticed by anyone in the duel, there was already somebody watching them. From the seat staring at the screen was a young man who wore red-framed spectacles over his purple eyes. He was the man who ordered Sylvio Sawatari to steal and instructed him how to use the Pendulum Cards.

"Excellent..." The man replied as his glasses flashed for a moment as he narrowed his eyes.

* * *

 **OC Cards:**

 **Sylvio Sawatari:**

 **Spell Card: Darts-Eye Gainer**

 **Effect: Target one "Dart" monster on the field and it gains 300 ATK points for every "Dart" monster you control on the field until the end of your turn.**

* * *

 **This is the first part of the chapter, and depending on how many cards the character has, I'm not so sure. A lot of the anime characters used more than 60 throughout the series. I don't know.**

 **So, in case you ask more questions, the story is just going to focus on the anime series because I Hate the ending of it. The ending wasn't climatic enough and it sucked in my opinion. So I want to focus on the anime series, but add my own storyline. Think of it as how Naruto and Sasuke duked it out in the end. And for the dialogue, I'm going to focus on the Japanese version because I hate how the dub verisons always censored the good stuff, but use some English dub lines to combine them in together.**

 **For example, the English names and Japanese names will be mostly together, but if the name sucked in the Eng dub, then I'll just use the Japanese version.**

 **As for the main character using all the Extra Deck summons before VRAINS, assume that she does because she doesn't want to waste it on people who aren't worthy of her. And she will not get any Pendulum cards any time soon. And I hate to spoil everything about this series, I know you've seen the anime to get it, but I want to make you guess more about her, like brainstorm the possibilities of her background without me spoiling her.**

 **Alright, I'll have to be extra careful with duels from this point on, making sure that everything is set in the right order. There are tons of ways to make a strategy, and for the cards that the character is using, it's too early to assume that she can do a whole lot more, but I think you all get the idea of how much power the character has.**

 **I hoped you've enjoyed reading it this far in my series. I will be working a whole lot more duels because of getting the right cards down and how to make sure that the changes to the points look cool. It'll be a pain in the ass, but I hope it'll be worth getting your attention.**


	5. Chapter 5: Tag Team Duel Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 5: Sylvio and Yamabe vs Yuya and Yasuko Part 2_

* * *

 **Sylvio and Yamabe (LP: 400)**

 **VS**

 **Yuya and Yasuko (LP: 200)**

The duel is going to be more intense now that Sylvio has made his successful Pendulum Summon. He and his partner have four monsters on the field: **Power Dart Striker (ATK 1800/ DEF 700)** ; **Rocket Dart Striker (ATK 1900/DEF 100)** ; **Koa'ki Meiru Maximus (ATK 3000/DEF 2500);** and **Ultimate Dart Striker (ATK 1700/DEF 300)** stripped of some attack points by the Shadow Spell trap card.

Yuya and Yasuko, not so sure about them. Yuya had two face-downs on the field, but he didn't use it. His **Block Spider** was shot by the beam. Why? Yuya was completely shocked by any thoughts when he stared at the spot where Yasuko dives into. He completely has forgotten his face-downs. If he hadn't hesitated like that, he would've gotten a fighting chance.

The steam was thick in the river thanks to the behemoth's fireball creating a huge explosion that evaporates enough water to create the fog.

Yuya felt this was his fault for making Yasuko took the hit. He was foolish enough to believe in Sylvio and he took his prized Pendulum cards. He lost all his determination to get his Pendulum cards back and the attack would've already decimated their Life points.

"Yasuko…" Yuya called in somber, looking more down than ever. This shock was so much that he fell to his knees and bowed his head in disgrace.

Sylvio and Yamabe smirked victoriously over their defeat. "I guess that's it then…" Yamabe smirked with him, but he noticed the waters started to bubble.

"Huh?" said Yamabe. "What's that?" he wondered when he noticed it. Sylvio and Yuya followed his line of sight at the area where Yasuko was hit. And then….

"Ahhhh!" Yasuko gasped for air despite being a hologram in the solid mass. "Damn, that was close!" Everyone was surprised to see that the duelist has not only survived the attack but the spider monster as well.

"But…. but how!?" Yamabe inquired, shocked to see herself and the monster being able to dodge that attack.

"Action Card, Evasion, dumbass," Yasuko revealed, showing the Action Spell; **Evasion** card on her duel disk. "Used right before your beam struck me. It negates the attack…"

Yamabe gritted his teeth with frustration. If his attack had her first, then he could've proven Sylvio that he can be as good as he is now with the Pendulum monsters. "Damn you…." Yamabe growled, "So what? I can still attack you with all the other monsters."

"No, you won't," said Yasuko, swimming herself to get to the dock where Yuya is. "Cause when I use Evasion in the river, I found this Action Card underwater." Yasuko raises her duel disk to show them the Action Card; **Against the Winds**. "This Action Card is called Against the Winds, and it forces all of your monsters to turn to defense mode and lose 1000 defense points until the end of your turn," she explained as the monsters on all of their field are switched to defense mode and lose 1000 defense points except for Ultimate Dart Striker due to the Shadow Spell trap card.

 **(Koa'ki Meiru Bergzak: DEF 200** → **0)**

 **(Koa'ki Meiru Maximus: DEF 2500** → **1500)**

 **(Power Dart Striker: DEF 700** → **0)**

 **(Rocket Dart Striker: DEF 100** → **0)**

Yamabe could only grit his teeth in anger when Yasuko cancels out all of his attempts to finish them off with one blow from either one of their monsters. "Oh, c'mon!" he whined.

"Is it the end of your turn, already?" Yasuko inquired. "Because if it is, then you'll need to discard an Iron Core spell card, but what I recall is that you've banished your Iron Core spell card."

The boy raises a fist in front of him. "Nonsense!" Yamabe exclaimed. "I can just discard one Koa'ki Meiru monster from my hand to keep that most powerful on the field and send in my Bergzak instead!" Yamabe discards one Koa'ki Meiru monster to keep his alien dragon, but the warrior monster disappears in its place.

Sylvio was also ticked. Not only did Yasuko stopped one of their attacks, but she even stopped any ore attempts to finish them off. "Lucky brat, no matter," Sylvio growled. "It's now the tipping point, only one attack from either of our monsters, and you're finished. Just look." He points on the field. "All of our fields is full of strong powerful ones while you still carry on to that trash card, and thus, this means that you're finished either way."

 **Turn 11: Yasuko (2x cards)**

With only a few life points left, Yasuko and Yuya are in a more desperate situation that could be their result of the loss of both Pendulum Cards. For a moment between them, Yuya was relieved that Yasuko made it out of that fireball alive. "Yasuko, you're okay…" said Yuya, but all Yasuko did is scowl at him for not getting the Action Card earlier.

"Save it, Sakaki," she retorted. "You little prick, you nearly got me killed, or worse, I would've lost because of you. What the hell happened back there? Why did you hesitate? Why didn't you use those face down?"

Yuya paused right there, thinking that she is angry with him for not getting the Action card that floats by. Yuya wasn't sure if Yasuko would forgive him for hesitating to grab the Action card. He could tell that Yasuko was extremely disappointed by his lack of confidence. He turned his head away. "I'm sorry, Yasuko…" Yuya apologizes. "I…I don't know what is wrong with me. If I hadn't got that card, or maybe if I could've used my face-downs, then..."

Yasuko looks into his eyes and finds what is wrong with him. "You hesitate because you're afraid of the risks." Yuya turn his head back to Yasuko in surprise that she doesn't lash out on him for his mistake this time. "If you can't take the risk of doing the act, then you can't stand up," she continued. "In every duel, there are always risks everyone takes, they never stop to look and see what lies in front of them." She glances at him with disappointment.

"Keep that in mind Yuya," she said. "This is how a tag-team duel is. Because you're my partner, I'm forced to rely on your help." Yasuko looks back at their field and her opponent's field. She ponders a strategy to counterattack in this situation. _"With Dart Strikers and that big alien dragon on the field, I'd say we're at a disadvantage with only Block Spider on the field,"_ Yasuko thought. " _Yuya placed two cards face down from earlier but will be saving that for later."_

Yasuko looks at her duel disk to see the layout of the field. " _Block Spider wouldn't have any ability to protect us. I just need to draw that one card that would give us the edge in this…"_ Yasuko stares down at the top of her deck. She prays for the exact card she needs that would give them an edge.

"Alright…" Yasuko hardens her eyes with a fiery determination. "Let's go...I…. Draw!" Yasuko swipes the card from her deck and sees that she draws one card. "Yuya, I need you to trust me on this, if that face-down can give you a boost to our defense, then take it," said Yasuko.

Yuya blinks once in confusion before nodding once. "If that's what it takes to win, then I'll follow," he agreed.

Yasuko nodded back and takes the card she draws and places it on her disk. "I activate the Spell Card, Mesmeric Control!" Yasuko declared, activating the Spell card; **Mesmeric Control.** "On Sylvio's next turn, your monsters cannot change their battle positions until the End Phase," she explained.

This surprised both Yamabe and Sylvio. "What?!" Sylvio exclaimed. "You mean all of them?"

"You damn right you can't," Yasuko admitted. "Well except for that big fellow over there." She points at the blue Dart monster that is still in chains. "Until that comes, I place two cards face down and end my turn." Yasuko Sets her two remaining cards before ending her move.

 **Turn 12: Sylvio (0 Cards)**

"Serious? That's all you've got to do?" Sylvio inquired. "Why all of this resistance and just admit it? I am the true master of Pendulum Summoning, so why don't you just give up?"

Yasuko glowers at him. "Maybe it's because it's enjoyable to see something like this go on forever," she commented. "I wonder how are you going to beat this iron wall we've build on ourselves? You'll need more than what you've got to beat it."

The blonde duelist's jaws tightened when he sees that she is provoking him again. "Alright then, it's time to bring it in the end of these two twerps," said Sylvio, determined to end the dual. "I draw!" Sylvio draws a card, which reveals to be a spell card. "I activate this spell card, Pot of Greed!" Sylvio plays **Pot of Greed**. "This card allows me to draw two cards from my deck!" He draws two more and one of them is **Cricket Close**. He inspected it before the voice on his Duel Disk came back with another reminder for him about the Pendulum Cards.

"That should do. According to my analysis, those two Magician Pendulum Cards on your field are Spell Cards now," the voice explained, causing Sylvio to frown in confusion. "That may be the trick you need right now."

"Huh? They're spell cards? That means they're no monsters right now?" Sylvio repeated before he realized what the voice means. His mouth cringed to form a smile, which turned into laughter. "Heh... Ha ha ha ha! These Pendulum cards are freakin' awesome as I am!" Sylvio laughed, causing him to get confused looks from Yamabe and from both Yuya and Yasuko.

"What did he draw?" Yuya asked.

"I don't know, but it doesn't sound good for the both of us," Yasuko answered sternly.

"It isn't good for the both of you cuz' I'm activating the Spell Card, Cricket Close! It lets me negate the effects of one of your cards by negating two of my spell cards," Sylvio explained as he activated his Spell Card.

"Eh? Two Spell Cards?" Yuya asked in confusion. He checked his Duel Disk, seeing his opponent's field with Yasuko doing the same thing. They scan for any cards that are on the field and there happens to be no other spell or trap cards other than Cricket Close on their field.

"You're bluffing," Yasuko accused in a rude tone. "You don't have any Spell Cards on your side of the field," she snapped, refusing to believe that there are any spell cards he could use; however, Sylvio smirk in triumph to prove his point.

"Am I? Perhaps you didn't understand the true potentials of the Pendulum Cards that you traded away!" Sylvio laughed.

"What!?" Yuya gasped in shock.

"You mean those Magicians are Spell cards?!" Yasuko inhaled.

Yuya and Yasuko were both shocked that not only can Yuya's Pendulum cards make a Pendulum summon, but they are also act as spell cards on the field.

"I negate the effects of my two Pendulum Cards, Stargazer and Timegazer Magician!" Sylvio declared. "And destroy that annoying Shadow Spell Trap Card!"

Two dart boards appeared from the spell card, putting the two magicians in pain as their effects were negated, turning them into cards. Then, the combined light was headed straight for Yasuko's trap and destroys it.

"Now that I've successfully escape one of your defense chains, I'll bury that trash hipe-card of yours! Including your trashy one right there!" Sylvio sneered. "That Block Spider is now a worthless trash card with only 100 defense points. It should be perfect since you three are both third-rate duelists."

Yasuko didn't like his comment and narrows her eyes while Yuya gritted his teeth. "Don't count us out yet! I activate my Quick-Play Spell Card, Draw Muscle!" Yuya declared, activating his Quick-Play Spell Card on the field; **Draw Muscle.** "It helps me muscle up a monster, and since my Block Spider has less than a 1000 attack points, I can draw a card from my Deck! If I draw a Monster Card, then I can add its defense points to one monster on the field!" Yuya explained. "Everything depends on this draw!" With that said, Yuya's finger roves on top of the deck, and swiftly draw his card.

He glanced at it and grinned. It was one of his Performapal monsters, **Performapal Kaleidoscorp (ATK 100/ DEF 2300)**. "Excellent! I just drew Performapal Kaleidoscorp! So, this might sting a bit because with that amount of defense points, I add all of that to Block Spider!" Yuya declared. With the drawn card revealed, the spider monster gained more boost to its Defense Points.

 **(Block Spider DEF 100** → **2400)**

"Now, I'm really irritated by those two!" Sylvio growled, clenching his fists. "I can't believe those two bigotry buffoons made me the idiotic fool again." His mouth suddenly turned from a frown into a smirk. "But the real fool here isn't me," he said, which caught Yuya and Yasuko by surprise. "With my superior grasp in dueling, I knew you would make the last ditch move to save yourselves." Sylvio started to laugh as he laughs out loud, much to the duelist's confusion. "I've been holding back just to test you not as a duelist, but as a team, and obviously, you don't make such a fine teamwork."

The girl raises an eyebrow. "Seriously?" Yasuko inquired skeptically.

"I've figured out your strategy," said Sylvio as he declared his next move. "I can go out for the onslaught accordingly!"

"Yuya," Yasuko called to get his attention. "Your last face down card. It's now or never, Yuya,"

The boy nodded as they brace for what Sylvio is about to do next. "By tributing my Power Dart Striker and Rocket Dart Striker, I can power up my Ultimate Dart Striker!" Sylvio declared, pointing at the second monster in the field. "Due to Power Dart Striker's effect, Ultimate Dart Striker gains additional 600 attack points!" The orange and pink Dart monsters combines to form one big railgun at the arm of the blue monster, boosting its attack points.

 **(Ultimate Dart Striker: ATK 2400** → **3000)**

Yuya gasped and Yasuko gritted when the only attack position monster on the field has higher attack points than Block Spider.

"And my Ultimate Dart Striker benefits from Rocket Dart Striker's special effect, allowing it to inflict piercing damage when it attacks a monster in defense mode!" Sylvio added, pointing at the spider monster.

"That means…600 points of damage," Yuya speculated.

"In other words; game over," Yasuko added.

"Do you understand? Now I have shall become the perfect 0 finish for both of ya! Ultimate Dart Striker, zero in on Block Spider! Bullseye Blast!" As commanded, the blue dart monster fires the huge orange rocket at both Yuya and Yasuko. "You're going out with a bang!"

The orange projectile bursts multiple dart missiles flying straight at Yuya and Yasuko. They stood still like rocks with a serious demeanor on their faces. Yuya and Yasuko remains standing, waiting for the rockets to explode around them. The attack has damaged the prison tower even more than before, causing a violent shaking that the chubby boy lost his grip from Zuzu's hand. "AH!... AHHHH!" he screamed.

"FREDERICK!" Zuzu shrieked as she tried to grab for the chubby little boy, only for her to lose her grip on the tower. The red-haired girl and the blue haired kid hold onto Zuzu tight as all four of the them began to fall into the water, screaming for their life.

Just as they were falling, Yasuko jerks her head to face Yuya in the eye. "Yuya, now!" she called.

"Right! It's time swing into action!" Yuya exclaimed.

Together as one, they both play their respective face-downs. "I activate my Trap Card!" Yuya and Yasuko chorused, much to their opponent's surprise.

"Chain Healing!" Yasuko exclaimed, activating her Trap card; **Chain Healing**.

"Empty Fishing!" Yuya declared, activating his Trap card, **Empty Fishing.**

Sylvio and Yamabe were caught off guard when they saw Yuya and Yasuko commencing double Trap Card activation at the same time. "Chain Healing gives us additional 500 life points!" Yasuko shouted. Thanks to Yasuko's trap card, Yuya and Yasuko gain additional life points to boost their chance of winning.

 **(Yuya and Yasuko: LP 200** → **700)**

"Empty Fishing cuts all the damage we took in halve!" exclaimed Yuya. Thanks to the Trap card, the damages reduces very low thanks to Yuya's trap card.

( **Yuya and Yasuko: LP 700** → **400)**

"And that's not all!" Yuya added more information about his Trap card. "Two cards that had their effects negated… are added to my hand!" Yuya declared.

"But which two cards had their effects negated?" Sylvio started, but then he gasped at the realization of the trap card's effect. "It can't be...!?" Sylvio was recalling what cards that were negated. He looks at two of the Pendulum Monsters, Timegazer Magician and Stargazer Magician. "My Magicians!" Sylvio cried.

"Not yours!" Yuya corrected. "Those Magicians belong to me! Welcome back to Team Yuya and Yasuko!"

Yasuko didn't seem too pleased with him commenting their tag team name. "Seriously, Team Yuya and Yasuko? You're kidding me," she asked Yuya with a raised eyebrow.

"I had some kind of a dream for a team myself," Yuya commented. The two Pendulum magicians were restored, freed from the Cricket Close. "I'm counting on you, Timegazer! Stargazer!" Yuya called, depending on his two Pendulum monsters. The two Pendulum magicians nodded together as they shot up into the air, preparing to catch Yuya's friends. Timegazer Magician managed to catch Frederick and the blue haired boy with his two hands.

"T-Thanks... Hah...That was close..." Frederick panted in relief as the blue haired boy sighed in relief, seeing that they were safe.

Stargazer Magician caught Zuzu and the red-haired girl, saving them from falling. "Thank you..." Zuzu thanked, relieved that they were all saved.

Both magicians brought Zuzu and the children down to the pier with Yuya waving at them. "Thanks, you two!" Yuya congratulated. With the magicians giving nods, they disappeared, allowing the duel to continue. By then, their cards have returned to the rightful owner, much to Sylvio's dismay.

"I-Impossible!" Yamabe breathed. "They actually got them back?"

"D-Did you two plan everything to turn out this way!?" Sylvio snapped angrily. "How can two amateurs like you two manage to pull it off?"

Yasuko steps in to clarify a few things for him to understand. "This was never planned… this is all because Yuya believed for this to happen," Yasuko explained, leaving everyone to glance at her in surprise.

"Yasuko… " Yuya breathed out. He never met anyone who belittles everything and yet, caring to help him.

"But yeah… almost half of it was planned," Yasuko admitted.

Zuzu and Yuya fell to the ground after hearing that and recovered back in annoyance. "You had to say that?!" Zuzu exclaimed.

"You said he believed, then you said he planned huh!?" Sylvio replied. "Tch! Well, you should've planned a backup because even if I can't get to you, my partner's gonna squash you and that pathetic bug of your since only none of you can't beat our monsters—"

"Serious, just shut up," Yasuko retorted calmly. "You talk too much."

Sylvio must've heard her say it and he clenched his fist together to show his anger for Yasuko. "Don't interrupt me when I'm speaking!" Sylvio snapped. "And don't think that you can beat us on the next turn, Yasuko, 'cause that's nothing compared to what we're about to do to take you down!" Sylvio declared, pointing at his only blue Dart monster on the field. "I activate my Ultimate Dart Striker's special effect!" The blue Dart monster glows brightly before the silhouette transforms back into three Dart monsters back into defense mode to save up their life points.

"The tributed Dart monsters are summoned at the end of the turn!" he announced. "I end my turn."

The audience were shocked to see all three "Dart" monsters back on the field. And with the other two Koa'ki Meiru monsters in defense mode, the tides are looking grim.

"He brought back all three of his monsters!" The blue-haired boy gasped.

"You both managed to get your friends back, but that's nothing compared to how we're going to take you down first!" Yamabe exclaimed.

Zuzu and the red-haired girl glanced at Yuya worriedly, but he just smiled, turning to his friends. "Sorry for cutting it close..." Yuya apologized, with an apologetic smile. They didn't seem to mind as the children smiled at him back. "At least you're alright."

"It was both thrilling and gave me the shivers, Yuya!" Frederick commented happily.

"And you timed it perfectly!" The blue haired boy added, smiling.

With that said, Zuzu brought up the first to give a raise for encouragement.

"Alright, you two... It's time the two of you beat those creeps and turn the tables!" Zuzu encouraged.

"Go, get 'em!" The red-haired girl cheered, much to Sylvio's annoyance.

"Let's just get this over with, I've got places to be." Yasuko said unenthusiastically.

 **Turn 13: Yuya (4x cards)**

With every word coming out from his friends, Yuya placed two fingers on his Deck preparing to draw his final card. "My turn! Draw!" Yuya called. As he drew, rainbow sparkles appeared in his draw as he looked at the card that he drew. He smiled, before he held his two Pendulum Card. "Let's go, Timegazer! Stargazer! It's show time!" Yuya declared.

Right at that moment, the city lights began to turn off, much to Sylvio's surprise and Yasuko's confusion. Every building in the city grew dark except for the stars at the night sky.

"What does he mean by that?" Yasuko questioned.

Sylvio and Yamabe were also confused, growing more frantic about what was happening.

"W-What is this?" Sylvio stuttered.

"What's going on here?" Yamabe inquired.

"What this is… is the fun part! Here it comes, here it comes!" Frederick cried out excitedly.

"It's about to begin!" The blue haired kid exclaimed.

"Everyone together now!" The red-haired girl called.

With that said, Zuzu began to recite one word.

"Pendulum! Pendulum!" Zuzu called.

Zuzu wasn't the only one who was chanting. The same sky haired boy, who was watching the duel, chanting as well. "Pendulum! Pendulum!" The sky-blue haired boy called along.

Yasuko saw how everyone was getting so hyped on Yuya's Pendulum Summon. She wouldn't understand why these people are getting excited about this when she saw two spotlights shining from out of nowhere, landing on Yuya standing on the bridge above Yasuko and the rest of the group.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! I hope to present a sparkling show to you, my dear spectators!" Yuya announced as he took out his two Pendulum Cards. "First and foremost, if we are talking about Pendulums, these two special performers will need to make an appearance!" Yuya declared, holding his two cards up high into the air.

"Timegazer Magician!" said the blue haired boy.

"And Stargazer Magician!" the red-haired girl added.

"Correct! Let's ask their help in introducing today's stars! Please shout out if you're ready, everyone!" Yuya called.

"RIGHT ON!" Frederick yelled excitedly.

"I use my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician to set the Pendulum Scale!" Yuya declared. "I'll be the one who controls of the duel starting now!"

He did so, as he sets Timegazer Magician on the left and Stargazer Magician on the right. Just like before, the word "Pendulum" appeared on Yuya's Duel Disk, showing that a Pendulum Summon was now enabled. Both Magicians float in the air under the light with their respective scale numbers: **Stargazer Magician (Scale 1)** and **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8)**.

"With this, I'm able to simultaneously summon monsters from Level 2 to 7! _Swing, Pendulum of my Soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether! I_ _ **Pendulum Summon**_ _!_ Appear! My faithful monster servants! It's time to swing into action!" Yuya called, summoning three monsters from the portal. **Performapal Turn Toad (ATK 0/ DEF 800)** hops down from the side. **Performapal Kaleidoscorp (ATK 100/ DEF 2300)** , a scorpion with a kaleidoscope stinger appears besides Yuya. **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)** lets out a ferocious roar that echoed in the arena.

"Let's hop to it; Performapal Turn Toad, sting your way to victory; Performapal Kaleidoscorp, And... turn up the heat; Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called. From the portal came three additional monsters to fill in every space on the field. Three of Yuya's Pendulum Monsters appeared, ready to fight against their master.

"He did it!" The three kids cheered.

"That was perfect, Yuya!" Zuzu complimented.

Yasuko was looking up to see a Pendulum summon up close. She stared at each monster until she stops at Odd Eyes. The sight of the heterochromia eyed beast couldn't stop her from gazing at the dragon with such astonishment.

"Beautiful…" Yasuko breathed, looking at the dragon with such amazement.

Sylvio was somehow annoyed as he looked at Yuya's current monsters on the field. "'Perfect', you say? Kaleidoscorp has only a 100 ATK points!?" Sylvio pointed out. "And that toad doesn't have any ATK points at all!? Tch! Attacking with those chumps is an insult!" Sylvio snapped.

"Yeah, that's right!" Yamabe supported. "Even with Odd-Eyes, we can't take any damage because all of our monsters are in defense mode."

Yasuko frowned, narrowing her eyes at the two duelists. "Are you sure?" she questioned. "It would appear that you've forgotten one rule about dueling."

Sylvio and Yamabe both heard her question. "Huh, and what will that be?" Sylvio asked.

"Never… underestimate your opponents," Yasuko stated. "And it would have seemed you've underestimated us."

"It's true that they may not look like they're a dent, but these guys have hidden talents!" Yuya announced. "Performapal Kaleidoscorp has a marvelous ability! It may be too bright, but do not cover your eyes, my dear spectators! I activate Performapal Kaleidoscorp's ability!" Yuya declared. He gives a small bow with a smirk, gesturing his hand to the scorpion.

Kaleidoscorp prepared to act as the Entertainment Duelist explained about Kaleidoscorp's ability. "Go! Kaleidosearch! _"_ Yuya yelled.

At his call, the tail of the scorpion performer shot a small ray of light towards Koa'ki Meiru Maximus, Power Dart Striker, Rocket Dart Striker, and Ultimate Dart Striker while creating a bright and colorful rainbow background at the same time. As the ray of light hit the blue dart striker, it started to glow with a blue aura, startling Sylvio and Yamabe

"What are you doing to my monsters?" Sylvio asked in shock.

Everyone, including Yasuko, look around and see how the background of the town seemed to turn from dull to a beautiful rainbow. Yasuko had never seen a duel that could make something like this so pretty in her nature.

"Kaleidoscorp's special ability can only be activated if one of my opponents made a successful Pendulum Summon, and One of those Dart Strikers was Pendulum summoned, was it not?" Yuya asked a question that didn't had Sylvio understand.

"What does that mean?" Sylvio asked.

"You'll find out soon." Yuya then faced his favorite dragon. "I shall choose a Pendulum Monster as well! And I choose...Odd-Eyes." Yuya started. As he talked, he placed a hand on his ace monster's finger and soon, the dragon began to glow with yellow light. Soon, all of the monsters on Yamabe and Sylvio's side of the field began to glow all green, red, yellow, and blue.

All the auras shot straight at Yuya's Odd-Eyes, creating four more color copies of Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. "In a flash, Kaleidoscorp's ability enables my monster to attack each monster my opponent has! Truly, this is... Kaleidomirage!" Yuya declared.

Odd-Eyes roars, sending both red and blue copies of itself to fly in the air while everyone watched, amazed by the color holograms of the dragon.

"So pretty...!" The red-haired girl breathed out.

"I would like to watch it for a while, but we are in a middle of a Duel." Yuya let out a fake disappointed sigh. "Now, let's see some battles with these Odd-Eyes'!" Yuya declared, pointing at his first target. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Power Dart Striker!" As Yuya commanded, the red aura Odd-Eyes flew towards the orange dart striker aiming to destroy its enemy.

Both Sylvio and Yamabe were getting very anxious about this attack, knowing that it's going to destroy all of their monsters "Hey! Wait! Hold on there!" Yamabe pleaded. "Can we just talk about this already?" Despite Yamabe's plead, the red aura Odd Eyes pressed on to the attack. The red aura made an impact to the orange, destroying it, and causing some big explosion behind Yamabe and Sylvio. They all fell into the water after the explosion.

"Nice to see our acts taking a splash!" Yuya commented, pointing his finger at them again. "Time for an encore! Take out Rocket Dart Striker!" This time, the blue aura Odd Eyes flies in to make a second attack at the pink female dart striker.

The boys resurfaced with only Sylvio making out of the river. He was on his knees catching his breath when he noticed the attack and tries to flee from the scene, but it was too late; Rocket Dart Striker was destroyed by the blue aura Odd Eyes.

"Not… Again!" Sylvio cried before he was sent flying from another explosion. He landed hard on the ground.

"I guess these actors are really taking the heat, huh?" said Yuya.

Yasuko gives an irritating look on her face. "Serious, can you stop with those puns, it's annoying as hell," she scowled.

Yuya ignores her and continued to chide to the audience. "And now, Odd-Eyes attack Ultimate Dart Strike!" This time, the green mirage Pendulum dragon soars into the air and flies down like an arrow to blast the blue Dart Striker, creating another explosion that sends away Sylvio and Yamabe along with their life points.

 **(Sylvio and Yamabe: LP 400** → **200)**

"Now, it is time for the grand finale, I attack Maximus with my Odd Eyes!" Yuya's declaration shocked both the audience and his opponents. Sylvio and Yamabe recovers and gets back up just to make a declaration.

"What? You've lost your mind!" Sylvio accused.

"Yeah, my Maximus' got the same defense points as your dragon!" Yamabe pointed out until Yuya comes to change the game.

"That may be true, but not to worry, my dear spectators…" Yuya declared, gesturing his hand to Yasuko, who was standing between Zuzu and the children. "Please turn your attention to my faithful assistant partner here... Yasuko!" Yuya declared.

At that moment, the spotlights shined down on Yasuko. She was surprised when Yuya mentioned her in front of the audience. "Huh? What? Me?" Yasuko pointed at herself, confused. She looked at everyone around her. They seem to be expecting her to make an appearance in front of them.

Zuzu gives her a reassuring smile, amused of how Yasuko has never done something like being in front of an audience before. "Yes, you! Go on!" Zuzu insisted, giving a light push to stand in front of the show.

"Let's go, Yasuko!" the red-haired girl cheered lifting her fist in the air.

"You can do it!" the blue haired boy persuaded.

"Go, this is your moment!" Frederick added, giving her another push for Yasuko to be at the spotlight.

"Uh… okay…" Yasuko doesn't make some a flashy performance in duels; she was focusing on tag dueling instead of the audience. She can't help but to get along with the performance that Yuya put her in. "For this trick, I have only one card face down, but that's about to change because…" Yasuko wasn't sure of what to say. Being in front of a crowd is not something she enjoys doing. "With only a push of a button, I shall now activate a trap card that would give Odd Eyes… a boost," Yasuko said awkwardly before she plays her final Trap Card on the field; **Energy Drain.**

From Sylvio's hand, the last card started to glow, and the aura scent goes to Odd Eyes, who sniffs the aura to grow slightly bigger than its original. "Huh?" Sylvio noticed that his hand was glowing and the aura scent coming to Odd Eyes as the monster grows bigger. Odd Eyes grew so big that it's as big as the road on the bridge. It roars in gratitude thanks to the power boost by Yasuko.

 **(Odd Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 2500** → **2700)**

"Hey! Why is Odd Eyes stronger than Maximus?" Yamabe asked.

"Its Energy Drain's special ability." Yasuko clarified. "I choose one monster on the field and when there are cards in my opponent's hands, the monster gains 200 ATK points for every card." Yasuko pointed her finger at Sylvio's. "And the last time I recall; you've got some remaining."

Sylvio looks at his hand and there is a single card in his hand. "Oh no!" he gasped.

"Spectacular!" Yuya cheered. "With Odd Eyes given a boost from my dearest assistant, Yasuko, we can now be able to put Maximus up and out!" Yamabe isn't liking how this turned out to be since Yasuko has already made Odd Eyes stronger.

"Oh man…" Yamabe groaned.

"Now, it's time for the real grand finale!" Yuya declared, pointing at Yamabe's strongest monster. "Go, attack Maximus with Spiral Burst Strike!" The Real Odd Eyes jumps high enough to be above the alien dragon as the dragon opens its mouth and unleashed a dark red spiraling beam. The beam hits the monster as it screams in pain before it blows up. The explosion sends Yamabe from the waters and straight at Sylvio.

"Oh... I am so out of here!" Sylvio called, trying to run, but Yamabe was coming fast and bumps into him, causing them both to hit the ground.

The boys lay in pain from all those multiple attacks by Odd Eyes. Sylvio was the first to recover, wiping his forehead. "Yuya...Yasuko…" Sylvio called to them. "You've managed to throw everything at me, but unfortunately for the both of you…" Sylvio gets back on his feet before turning to the duelists. "We're still standing."

The duel has been going on for so long that they've managed to make a draw with both players at only a minimum life points left.

Zuzu and the children were getting very anxious with the set up now. "Guys, this maybe it," said Frederick. "They're at their last LP and there's nothing they can do. It's so much... It's giving me the shivers!" Frederick shuddered.

Zuzu looked on to Yuya, who still is making his final turn count for the two duelists. "Well, I'm not worried," said Zuzu.

"And neither am I," Yasuko added.

Zuzu looked at Yasuko, who looks back to her. The girls stared at each other for one moment before Zuzu smiles at her and Yasuko nodded once to the girl. "Seeing Yuya duel like means he's still got something surprising in his sleeve." Yasuko turned back to Yuya, who had his smile kept on for the longest of time.

Zuzu nodded. "I thought that you were just mean, but I'm guessing you don't do this very often?" she assumed.

"In front of a large crowd, I'm not," Yasuko admitted.

"And I bet this one's gonna surprise all of us!" The blue haired boy added.

"Go, Yuya!" the red-haired girl cheered on.

"Thank you, guys, but before I can go, I like you to introduce to my two important performers." Yuya smiled, gesturing to both Block Spider and Flip Toad. Sylvio stomped his foot to protest about how valuable those monsters are.

"They're unimportant!" Sylvio snapped. "Not to mention they're powerless."

Yuya closed his eyes and replied to Sylvio's commentary. "It is true that they won't be able to do much as they are now…" Sylvio sighed relieved when he heard that; however, Yuya closed his eyes while his smile grew. "But not as _who_ they are."

Sylvio looked at him a little worried and turned skeptical. "Excuse me!?" he said.

"And that's where Turn Toad comes in!" Yuya opened his arms wide enough as Flip Toad turns to the ground that shadows the figure of Block Spider. "It's time… for the amazing Flip Turn Tricka-roo!" The green toad grabs Block Spider's shadow that was on the ground and then tossed it up towards Block Spider as the spider merged with him in the yellow aura.

 **(Block Spider: ATK 0** → **1200)**

Sylvio and Yamabe were both surprised by the amount of ATK points it received from Turn Toad. Sylvio grows even more afraid that he started to back up from the scene. "H-How did your Block Spider suddenly gain so many ATK points?" Sylvio asked.

"Turn Toad's special effect can target one monster on my field in defense mode and switch it to attack mode, and then that monster gains attack points equal to half its current defense points," Yuya explained.

Sylvio started to shake uncontrollably. He had a terrified look on his face that Yamabe matches with the same look. They knew that where this would go, and they aren't going to like the outcome.

"But that's not fair!" Sylvio complained.

"Not fair for you, that is," Yasuko said.

"Sylvio and Yamabe has 200 LP, and Block Spider has 1200 ATK, can anyone tell me how many LP will Sylvio and Yamabe have if Block Spider attacks now? " Yuya asked the audience a question. Sylvio and Yamabe both didn't answer to his question since they already knew the answer.

"Feel free to chime in, folks," Yuya insisted. "Cuz we're gonna give this duel, an _explosive_ finish!" Yuya declared, pointing at Sylvio and Yamabe. "Go, Block Spider, attack them directly!" Block Spider flew towards Sylvio who looked really scared with Yamabe running away while Yuya held up his arms.

"And the answer is…?" Yuya asked.

Sylvio screamed as Block Spider collided with him and exploded. "ZERO!" Everyone, except for Yasuko, screamed with excitement.

 **(Sylvio and Yamabe: LP 200** → **0)**

Fireworks then appeared in the sky as a finishing touch to their duel. The booms echoed in the stadium with multiple color decorations popping everywhere. Yasuko watched with amazement of how this duel turned out to be, and to be honest with herself, she was impressed at this duel. "So... this is...what real Entertainment Duel is about…" said Yasuko.

 **WINNER: Yasuko and Yuya**

The Action field started to disappear from the stadium along with the rest of the monsters that were on Yuya and Yasuko's field. The tower and the cities all disintegrated into tiny speckles of dust as the field returns to becoming the LDS stadium with no audience. Yuya and Yasuko, along with the hostages, all stared at Yamabe, who was sitting in defeat, and Sylvio, who was on his knees in shame.

Yasuko places both hands on her hip, looking around the stadium. She would've imagined how many people would be to see Yuya's performance. "I had to say… for a minute there, I thought we weren't gonna win with you being a total slack job," said Yasuko, making Yuya turn to her in anger.

He raised his fists to defend himself. "Hey!" Yuya said angrily.

"But…" Yasuko glanced over her shoulder to Yuya, who stared at her with confusion in his eyes. "I've got to admit, that was… interesting, if you ask me."

Yuya's expression grow calm when her comment changed his perspective on her. "Really?" Yuya inquired.

Yasuko nodded, looking up in the sky with thoughts running in her mind. "I don't find most duels to be amusing, but at least, this was something worth dueling," Yasuko commented. "I started to think that this You Show Duel School has a better reputation than the Leo Institute."

Yuya suddenly recalled their previous encounter when he saw Yasuko entering the arena. "Hey, wait a minute." Yuya paused her. "What were you doing here anyway?" Yasuko blinked once before she recalled what she was doing here at the institute.

"Oh yeah… I was checking this whole city out first to get used to their customs here." Yasuko explained her reason for being here. "I checked on the institute first because I've heard a lot about their high score reputation, but I guess they need to reinstruct their students better."

Unexpected, the three kids who were with Zuzu all huddle close around Yasuko. "That was really awesome! At first, you had me worried about you taking the risk, but when you made that come back with Yuya," the blue haired kid exclaimed. "I never see anyone who can do that!"

"Aye, you and Yuya gave me the shivers!" Frederick cried as he shuddered.

"And they were very awesome of you to save us!" the red-haired girl beamed.

Yuya let out a chuckle before he turned to Yasuko. "Oh, Yasuko, I like to introduce to my friends here," Yuya replied, gesturing to the three little kids.

Yasuko looks at the kids who were in elementary grade. it was odd for someone like Yuya to be friends with a bunch of kids who are younger than her. She waves at the three of them politely. "Hi there, I'm Yasuko Yukihana, and I go to the same school as these people here," Yasuko introduced herself to the three kids as they introduced themselves in return. "It's nice to meet all of you."

"Hi, I'm Frederick!" Frederick cheered. "Frederick Harada, nice to meet you!"

"My name is Tate Yamashiro!" Tate, the blue haired kid replied.

"And my name is Allie Ayukawa! It's so nice to meet you, Yasuko!" Allie greeted.

Yasuko retreats to collect her bags. She digs into her gym bag for something. She found what she needs and pulls out a bag to give to the children.

"Here, take this to your heart's delight." Yasuko held a bag full of sweets and candy that has all sorts of sugary goods. There was a bunch of snacks that goes from chocolate to marshmallows to gummy bears. Tate, Frederick, and Allie all looked at how many sweets there are in the bag with excitement. Their eyes gleam that a spec of light shines from their pupils.

"Wow!" said Allie. "Look at that! There's so many sweets!"

"I want to try them all!" Frederick added.

"Hey, that would be unfair, Frederick!" Tate complained. "You already got too many today!"

Yuya and Zuzu both stare at Yasuko. To their amazement, Yasuko isn't looking down at them like how she did at school; she was staring down with less hate. There was this genuine

look on Yasuko's face that shows something they can scratch on. She gazes down at the children munching on the sweets, amused at how the kids are enjoying themselves eating the sweets she brought.

Sylvio and Yamabe managed to recover and get up as they glared at both Yuya and Yasuko. as he glanced at his minions. "You've won the duel, but you're about to lose those Pendulum Cards!" Sylvio declared, facing to his friends. "Go get 'em!" he yelled.

"Yeah!" The three minions cried out, startling Yuya and the children. His friends prepared themselves to attack them; however, at the last moment, something, or someone flew past them and then knocked Sylvio's three friends out cold

Sylvio yelps in pain as he was knocked out by a single lollipop stick. Everyone turned to see the one who assaulted the four as the boy sighed in disappointment.

"Geez, these guys are really lame at the end," said the mysterious boy. "But then again, let that be a lesson." Everyone was looking at the boy with confusion. They didn't know that there was someone among them watching the duel.

"Uh...who are you?" Yasuko asked him.

The sky haired boy turns around to face Yuya with admiration. "Oh, just a person who was amped up by your skills!" the boy cheered. "You were super cool out there!" The boy exclaimed happily.

"So, are you another student of the Leo Institute?" Yasuko asked,

"I was considering to be one, but not anymore," the boy responded back with a smile. He looks up to Yuya with a beam "I want to be your student!" The boy declared.

At the declaration, everyone was shocked at this, but Yasuko narrowed one eye to her confusion."Wait, so… you've been watching the duel this whole time?" Yasuko asked.

"Yep!" The boy beamed.

For Yuya, he was still startled of what the boy said. He was still learning to be a duelist; yet someone is making him be a teacher. "Eh... Eh!? You want me to teach you dueling!?" Yuya repeated, still shocked of what he had heard from this energetic boy.

"Yup! If I'm gonna look down and learn, I wanna learn to have fun! And your duel may not be impressive, but it was Dueltaining!" The boy explained.

"Hey... How did you stop and drop those guys?" Zuzu asked, pointing at the four startled and unconscious boys. At the question, the energetic boy grinned and made his explanation to Zuzu.

"Oh, I just knocked them out by surprise." The boy answered proudly.

"You hit the El-men area…with a lollipop stick?" Yasuko asked him another question.

The boy turned to Yasuko by surprise. "Hey, how you know that?" he inquired.

"Because if they would've come closer, I would've about to do the same thing before you came," Yasuko explained, looking onto the unconscious boys. "But let's not get all hyped about this, just who are you really?" Yasuko asked.

"Ah! Sorry! I'm Sora! Sora Perse by the way, and it's cool to meet you two!" Sora answered. He offered a hand to Yuya, who nervously took it.

"Huh? Y-Yeah...great to meet you too." Yuya replied as he shook Sora's hand.

Yasuko gave a sigh, seeing that she had had enough for today. She glanced back at the four boys who were still unconscious before she stared at everyone around her, seeing that everyone has settled after the duel.

It was weird for Yasuko to see how the kids and Zuzu look very easy after being taken hostage and being in mortal danger from the Action Duel. Just because it does not seem to be real, the pain could still be real to anyone who duels in the arena. One moment, they were all afraid and the next second, they all seem relaxed after Yuya save them. All she did was just escalate the duel further and watch on while she did not do anything to save the kids or Zuzu. She didn't feel like she deserve to be praised for her actions. She wonders why people like the You Show would be so relieved after nearly getting hurt from the Action Duel. She doesn't understand it.

Yasuko grabs her school and gym bags and began to walk out of the stadium.

Zuzu notices her walking away. "Huh? You're leaving already?" she asked.

"Yeah… I've had enough," said Yasuko. "I only came here to check this place out. I've got places to be, so I'm done with this thing for today." She was close to walking out of the duel arena before Yuya paused her.

"Oi, Yasuko!" Yuya called after him, pausing Yasuko to turn around in confusion.

"Hm? What is it now, Yuya?" she asked.

Yuya smiled, giving her the proper gratitude for her help. "I just wanna say thanks for helping me and the others back there," said Yuya. "If you hadn't shown, then maybe I would've saved them." Yasuko blinked before she looks back to the kids, who are still eating the sweets she gave them and Zuzu. They are a very odd group of people that she has met since coming to this town: yet, they still act friendly toward meeting her. Why?

Yasuko's mouth twitched only once before she shrugged. "It was no biggy," said Yasuko. "I'm just doing what is right." She takes one moment to look at them before turning around and gives a wave back. "See ya later." And with that Yasuko exits out of the court.

* * *

Somewhere in an unknown building, the same gray-haired young man watches the screen while his employee, Claude Nakajima, looked at the screen,

"Why are you just lying there? Hurry up and take back those Pendulum cards." he ordered the boys who were unconscious to grab Yuya's Pendulum cards; however, the gray-haired man spoke at that moment, "No. That's good enough. Leave them be."

Claude turned towards his boss and looked at him with confusion. "What? But Mr. President…" Claude paused when he questioned the gray-haired young man.

The young man remains silent, looking at Yuya who was on left screen, and Yasuko who was on the right screen. He stares at Yuya first before he roved his eyes to Yasuko. He was impressed over the adaptive teamwork despite their antithetical personalities. "Those kids gave me quite a good show…" he said, fascinated. "Yuya Sakaki…" the man called. "And Yasuko Yukihana…" The man seems intrigued by them. From how the duel was displayed, the man could guess how each duelist performed on a scale of 1 to 10. He wanted to know more regarding their individual abilities; however, this was good enough for the moment because they had gotten what they need to know about the Pendulum Cards.

* * *

 **Alright, here's part two of this Duel. My god, this was painful to do, making all the cards fall into the right place and the right timing for certain cards. Also, a little reminder, I'll be making different effects that would incorporate both the anime version and the actual version because I just found out that some actual effects are a lot better than the anime version, so in case you're confused, just assume that it can do both.**

 **I hoped you enjoy this first duel of the chapter, there will be plenty of more of where that will came from, and some will be divided into either two parts or one pat depending on the situation. And stay tuned for more.**


	6. Chapter 6: Another Day

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 6: Another Day as Always_

* * *

The morning sun rises from the window of a bedroom, but this room was not Yasuko's. It was Diana, sleeping soundlessly with a dream about a hot model that she would date. Her hair was spawned against the mattress with her arms hugging the pillow.

"Mmmm…" Diana starts to smell something cooking. She sniffed once, or rather twice in fact. Her nose started to smell some sort of a charcoal burning scent that smells something good. She thought she was dreaming until she heard something beeping. She moans that it had to end her dream and slams the alarm clock three times to shut it off, but the beeping was still going on. She thought that she didn't press the snooze button right, she slapped the clock with her hand, exactly on the snooze button.

Being half awake, Diana could smell something. There was this charcoal scent that fills the entire room. When she smelled the air once, she realized that this scent can only be from something that is fiery.

"What the!?" she yelled, throwing her blanket and pillow aside to find out that there was smog building in her room. The fire alarms were beeping loudly that Diana realized that there was something burning, and she immediately throws her bathrobes on to rush towards Yasuko's room.

"Yasuko! Yasuko! There's something burning in the house!" Diana called to Yasuko. "Yasuko! Yasuko!" Diana opens her door and finds out that she was gone. "Yasuko! Yasuko!" she shouted her name.

"I'm in here!" Yasuko's voice called from the kitchen. Diana hurried to follow the source of the smog and that's where it leads her to the kitchen. She heard that there was some crashing sound from the kitchen, so Diana went there to check something.

"Ahhh ahh ahh!" Yasuko panicked.

Diana found Yasuko trying to stir something on the pan. Diana wasn't sure of what she was trying to make, but it was burning so much that it's building smog in the house. Diana grabs a towel and waves frantically in the air. Yasuko quickly puts the pan down and moves to open the window to let all the smoke out.

"What were you doing this early in the morning!?" Diana exclaimed, demanding to know what Yasuko was doing in the kitchen.

"I was trying to make pancakes!" Yasuko shouted, grabbing something from below the sink and pulled out a fire extinguisher. Yasuko sprays the extinguisher all over the stove that puts out the spark that was about to burst while Diana kept waving her towel at the air, holding her mouth and nose.

When the smoke was cleared, the fire alarm stops beeping. Yasuko was practically covered in smog when she found out that she nearly burned everything in the stove. Diana held both hands to her hip, showing her angry scowl to Yasuko.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Diana asked. "Making pancakes without my supervision?"

Yasuko puts away the extinguisher and glanced at Diana over her shoulder. "As I said, I was trying to make pancakes," said Yasuko.

Diana held her scowl as it grew deeper to form a frown. "How long have you've been trying to make this pancake?" she asked.

"Since 4 in the morning," Yasuko answered.

Diana let out a heavy sigh that Yasuko was up making something to eat. "And you could've asked me so that you can have a pancake?" Diana inquired.

"I didn't want to wake you," Yasuko answered honestly.

"Well, I'm afraid that you're gonna have to go," Diana affirmed. "I'm afraid with all that pancake mix you've used, I guess we're not gonna have any breakfast thanks to you." Yasuko wasn't sure if she was disappointed or sad as she looks at the mixes, bowls, and flour she's used just to make a simple pancake. "And can you please clean up the mess you've made?! I can smell that frosting from you!" said Diana.

* * *

Yasuko puts on a spare uniform because of all the mess she made back at the kitchen ruined her other uniform. Thanks to Diana making her clean up the kitchen, she's going to be late for the bus and that wasn't fair for Yasuko to leave her to clean the table and grow hungry.

Yasuko could hear her stomach growling. She groans that she didn't have anything to eat as she walked on for a few hours. She doesn't know exactly where she was going, but she was going onto this road that leads her to a route to take her to school. Her stomach let out another growl, making her moan.

"Damn that woman," Yasuko growled. "First she kicks me out for school and I don't have any breakfast. Doesn't she know that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" Yasuko's face turned to a bit of pain. "I was only making a pancake and suddenly, the pan went smoking." Yasuko turned a corner in the street where she stopped to see someone walking around, back and forward. Yasuko saw the light blue haired kid that saved her from Sylvio's goons. She recognized him by his hair when she saw it.

"Oh, it's you," Yasuko called. "Sora… isn't it?"

Sora seems to hear her and turned his head. "Oh… Oh, hey!" Sora cheered. "Yasuko, it's good to finally see you!" Sora then launched himself to give Yasuko a hug.

"Oh! Hey, stop it! Cut it out! Stop it!" Yasuko exclaimed, giving Sora a hard shove. "What are you doing?" she asked the sky-blue haired boy.

Sora seems to recall the reason why he's here and gets back to the same path that he always walked. "Oh, I'm waiting for Coach 'Y'." Yasuko blinked in confusion.

"Coach 'Y'?" Yasuko repeated. She heard him say "Y" until she realized who Sora was referring to. "Oh… you mean Yuya?" Yasuko recalled. "Well, hate to break it to ya kid, but I don't think Yuya would evenly think of becoming your teacher." she clarifies what Yuya agrees with. Sore looks at her with some defeat.

"Huh, and why not?" Sora asked.

"Because I don't think Yuya doesn't know anything about Pendulum cards yet," Yasuko said, placing to hands on her hips to confirm. "Besides, he's only in junior high, he doesn't have any experience with any familiar summons the Leo institute does."

"Nah, you're just saying that because you're jealous," Sora replied deadpanned.

Yasuko was taken back from his statement, scowling at Sora with a bit of anger. "Jealous? What am I jealous about? That he can do a Pendulum Summon?" Yasuko assumed. "Trust me, I am _not_ jealous; I'm just surprised to see something like that happening."

"Then what are you doing?" Sora asked her.

"I was trying to find my way to school because I was kicked out of Diana's home for the day," Yasuko stated.

Sora whistled with sympathy for Yasuko. "That's gotta be hard," he commented. "What did you do to deserved it?" he asked.

"I tried to make myself a pancake," said Yasuko.

"You were making a pancake?" Sora inquired.

"It was my first time," said Yasuko. "Do you know how hard it is to measure the amount of flour the pancake needs? It looks so easy in the book," she complains on about how she had to deal with the cooking.

"Yeah I could wonder what that was like," said Sora, imagine how hard it would be to cook the flour. "Well, while you go ahead to school, I'm gonna wait for Coach Y."

"Don't you have to go to school too?" Yasuko asked.

Sora paused right there. He takes a glance at Yasuko briefly. She stared at his eyes with intentions, but Sora excuses himself. "I'm on a transfer," Sora replied.

"Same here. I'm a transfer too," Yasuko admitted.

"I go to the northern boarding school in Karuizawa," said Sora. "What about you?"

"I go the same school as Coach Y," Yasuko replied.

"Good luck with that," Sora dismissed and about-faces to head back to the place where Coach Y lives until his stomach let out a loud growl. He paused, feeling his stomach having to give in to hunger. "You haven't eaten breakfast, yet haven't you?" Yasuko asked.

"Yeah, I guess…" Sora admitted. "I ate my last dinner and haven't had anything since yesterday."

"Well, good like with that," said Yasuko. Before she could leave the kid, her stomach let out a similar growl that causes her to blush, embarrassed by her lack of food. She had a feeling that Sora could be smiling behind her back. "You know what? We go in and find Yuya, but I'm gonna have something to eat." Yasuko turns back around and talks to Sora about his address. "Do you know where he lives?" she asked.

Sora points at the direction behind him. "He lives right there."

Yasuko remains skeptical to where Sora was pointing at. "Uh… are you sure you know where he lives?" Yasuko inquired.

"It said so on that." Sora pointed at the plaque. Yasuko looks to where his finger was pointing, and she didn't even notice the residential plaque on the stone fence. She read the plaque that had the name, "Sakaki".

"So, this is where the slacker lives?" Yasuko inquired as she looks at the house. "Looks impressive suburban home." There was a mix of a simple house design with a triangle rooftop in the back. Yasuko was ambiguous about this house. Sora said he saw him come to this exact location, yet she doesn't know a lot about this town. She looks around for a brief second before Yasuko suddenly had an idea and propped her palm to her fist.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuya fell out of his bed with a loud bump as he hit the floor. His upper body was on the ground before his lower body slips out of his bed.

"Figures," Yuya groaned. He had had a dream about him dueling to become the world champion and he had won; however, that good moment in the dream was interrupted by that kid, Sora, who jumped on him.

Yuya got up and picked up his pendant. He looked at the pendant that his father gave to him, reflecting the duel he dreamt.

" _The most awesome duel ever fought, and it was just a dream… on the other hand, I really do have the power to Pendulum Summon… It was real as it could be."_ Yuya looks at his pendant, reflecting all the duels he's done so far since he got to Pendulum Summon _. "I may not be the world champion now, but as long as I have Pendulum summoning, I will keep on bringing smiles to everyone... Just like how my Dad did._ " Yuya beamed on as he changed out of his pajamas and got dressed to his casual red T-shirt with green cargo pants and brown belt. He puts on the school uniform jacket around his shoulders.

Just as Yuya got out of the bathroom, he then recalls to the one kid from yesterday. He rubbed the back of his head with confusion. "But seriously, what was with that Sora kid? He just showed up, knocks the floor out of Sylvio and his goons, and then he asked me to make him my student?" Yuya inquires himself about Sora. He was a strange fellow who has high expectations from him, but he wasn't sure about taking him in as a student considering that he, too, is a student.

Soon, Yuya heard barking and looked to his right and saw his pet cat and dog walking towards him and smiled at them.

"En, and Core!" Yuya bents down to pick up the small brown dog in his hands. "Hi!" he smiled at him while the dog looked at him happily. "Wow, look at you, when mom brought you home, you were small enough to fit in the palm of my hand." Yuya amused. "You've been gobbling so much that you've gotten big, huh?" The dog barked happily and Yuya chuckled a little. Yuya then looked down on that cat that was leaning against his leg. "And good morning, Core." The cat meowed at him happily.

Yuya then heard his mom speaking downstairs. "I just knew that you were hungry when you brought that poor little thing, please eat as much as you want, okay?" Yuya raised an eyebrow, wondering if his mom adopted another animal. He put his little dog down and ran over to the fire pole and slide down it before he landed on the first floor in the living room and turned around, "Mom, did you pick up another stray pe—"

Suddenly, Yuya got quiet in shock when he saw two people sitting on the table. They were having breakfast that his mother made for them. One of them is Yasuko Yukihana.

She turns around and finds Yuya standing in front of them. "Oh, you live here too?" Yasuko asked, shrugging her shoulders with a fork in her hand. "What a coincidence, I thought she was the only person in this house, but then again, I didn't know that you would be living in this glasshouse," she said sarcastically.

"Yep, and good morning to you too, teacher," said the sky blue-haired kid.

Yuya falls in shock over seeing Yasuko and Sora at his home this early in the morning. Yuya recovers and quickly moves over to the table, looking at both Sora and Yasuko. "What are you doing here in my house?!" Yuya demanded. "How'd you find my home?" He then looked at Yasuko with the same shock on his face.

Yasuko didn't answer his question as she munches down on a slice of pancakes. She swallows her piece before having a conversation with Yuya "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound obvious to him. "We're just having pancakes." Yasuko looks back at Yuya with a blank look on her face. "I didn't know you live here; it's just a coincidence."

Yuya didn't look convincing to her explanation as he said, "You're lying! I know you know where I live!"

"Nah, it's true," Sora added into the conversation. "She was kicked out of her house because she burned sixteen pancakes she was trying to make." Yasuko and Sora kept eating their pancakes while his mother, Yoko, placed out a plate of pancakes with syrup for Yuya.

"I was in the kitchen when I heard a loud crash at the street and I saw this boy collapsed on the street with this young girl helping him to the sidewalk. She begged for me to help feed them something because when she told me her story about making pancakes, but she can't cook one and got kicked out of her house," Yoko explained what happened while Yuya was sleeping. "I was so sad that I just couldn't help it but to feed them. These poor kids, I had no choice to offer them breakfast and help with Yasuko on how to make pancakes properly, so she wouldn't make the same mistake ever again."

Yuya looked at his mom with disappointment. "You should've given them food to go." he rebuked. "But seriously, mom. You can't just bring someone into the house."

His mother looked at him before she looks at Sora. "Nonsense, they're welcomed here," said Yoko. "Yasuko told me she went to the same school as you and she asked you to take Sora as a student."

Yuya slammed his hands on the table, protesting what Yasuko told her. "That's a no-no!" Yuya declined. "There is no way he's not my student."

Sora looked at him shocked, "Huh?" Yuya glared at Sora.

"Don't say 'huh' like it comes as a big shock to you, after all, I never agreed to it," Yuya sighed tiredly. "Man, you really have a bad habit when you're not wanted. I mean, not only did you say things like that to get into my house, now Yasuko is here too." He supports his head by the elbow, looking defeated.

Yasuko finishes her pancakes and looked at Yoko. "That's rude," she accused. "I was doing a favor; besides, I asked your big sister if she knows how to make these pancakes; they're super delicious."

Yoko looked at Yasuko in shocked. "Huh, his big sister?" the woman gasped.

Yasuko suddenly flinched back, looking at her confusingly. "Oh, wait a minute, so… he's the only child?" Yasuko questioned, afraid that she may have offended her. Then, an idea pops to her head again like a firecracker. She pretends to be insecure and very frightened over her mistake. "I'm sorry, I thought that he lived with someone, and when you came to the door, I just knew that there was someone who looked so young, beautiful and elegant to make me believe Yuya had someone that is kind, caring, and loving to have for a sister..."

As Yasuko describes Yoko, she looked so very happy when she heard all of that from Yasuko. Her cheeks flushed red and her smile stretched across her face.

"Oh my, calling me young and beautiful, what a perceptive young lady. And a very cute child." She grabbed Yuya's plate and passed them to Yasuko. "If you liked my pancakes so much, then please have some more!"

"Thank you, Ms. Sakaki." Yasuko gives her sincere thanks as she takes a bite off Yuya's pancakes.

Yuya looked at his mom in shock; she _actually_ gives away his own pancakes that she made for him. "Hey, wait a minute, those are my pancakes!" he whined; however, he got interrupted by Yasuko, who was nodding at Yoko.

"I also have to thank you for helping me with the pancakes today," she said sarcastically, yet sounded blunt.

"And why not I make some waffles since you're so generous enough to let me," said Yoko.

"With scrambled eggs and French toast too!?" Sora added.

"Coming right up!" Yoko beamed to the kids as she comes back to the kitchen to make some more food.

Yuya sighed as he saw how happy his mom got again, figuring he wouldn't get much breakfast this morning. While Yoko is making more, Yasuko checks her gym bag for something. She found what she needs and gives Yuya a bag of apples. Yuya was surprised that she first took his pancakes, then she offers him apples.

"Here, take this," Yasuko insisted. "This is me saying thanks for having your beautiful mother make me the breakfast I want."

Yuya was confused after she gave him a bag of apples. He couldn't tell if this was a trick or not. She was cunning, but she is giving him food for the morning.

"What? No tricks or anything?" Yuya questioned, but Yasuko shook her head.

"No tricks," said Yasuko. "It's just apples." She then looked at her gym bag. "Diana grew these from her garden. I carry them with me as snacks, but in case I get too much, I give them to someone who's hungry. Like you."

Yuya blinks with uncertainty, ambiguous about her nature for being rude and nice at the same time. "You stole my breakfast and now you're giving me something to eat?" he questioned.

"So what? It's just breakfast. I eat fruits and yogurts for most of my breakfast even though I like pancakes," Yasuko answered.

"You should be grateful that she's giving you something to eat," Sora added. "I mean, her bags been really big, and I don't know what she has in that sack."

"Clothes and snacks, kid," Yasuko revealed. "Clothes and snacks." She returns back to eat her pancakes.

Yuya never wanted to admit it in front of Yasuko, but she was good in manipulating his own mother to give her his pancakes by persuading her beauty and looks. Since Yasuko took his pancakes and his mother not going to be making more for him, Yuya opens the bag and takes one apple to bite while looking at them.

* * *

After breakfast, Yasuko and Yuya both got ready for school, carrying their bags with them as they walked to school; unfortunately, Yasuko doesn't know how to get there since she always takes the bus. Reluctantly, Yuya agrees to walk her to school to show her the directions in case she was ever late for the bus again. Sora disappeared somewhere, so that was a breather for Yuya as he makes his way to view a nearby river.

"So, the school's that way, right?" Yasuko asked, pointing at the path by the river.

"Right, and then… you turn right onto the 4th street and keep walking four blocks down," Yuya explained. "That should lead you to the school."

Yasuko nodded, understand the alternative route to the school. "Alright then, thank you…" Yasuko bowed her head slightly before a short voice called from behind.

"Yuya!" Yasuko and Yuya both turned around and find Zuzu catching up to them.

"Oh, you're here too," said Yasuko.

Zuzu paused herself, seeing Yasuko walking with Yuya. Her expression turned a bit dark. "Oh, it's you again, Yasuko," she said in a more impolite tone.

"From that expression, I'd say you overslept," Yasuko accused.

"I did not!" Zuzu protested. "But what are you doing here, walking to school?" she inquired.

"I missed the bus," Yasuko answered, "so I'm going on foot. Yuya's going to be my guide for the day because I have no idea where the school is." Yasuko then looks at Zuzu. "But maybe you can be my guide also since I'm still not familiar with this place."

Zuzu blinked before she looks at Yuya to confirm this. "Is that true, Yuya?"

"Yeah, I am," Yuya admitted. "I guess this is my way of saying thanks for the apples she gave to me."

"Apples?"

Yasuko pulls out an apple from her gym bag and offers it to Zuzu. "You want one?" Yasuko offered. "They're freshly grown."

Zuzu takes the apple as she asked her, "Who's Diana?"

"My caretaker," said Yasuko. "I live at her house now since I transferred."

Yasuko turns back and walks ahead of Yuya and Zuzu. Zuzu walks beside Yuya and takes a bite of the apple that Yasuko gave her while Yuya explains to her about his morning experience with Sora and Yasuko. He told her of how Yasuko tricked his mother into making them more breakfast and giving his own to Yasuko for complimenting her youth. Though it was not a surprise to Yasuko, Zuzu was amused by Sora's dedication to being his student and Yasuko's manipulation to get inside his house for free breakfast.

"Really? Sora's the kid who asked you to teach him how to duel and now, he's hanging around your house?" Zuzu repeated what Yuya told her. "And Yasuko stole your breakfast?" Yuya was walking towards school with Zuzu next to him and Yasuko ahead of them. Zuzu looked at Yuya with a troubled smile after hearing what had happened earlier.

"Yeah," Yuya sighed heavily, "I get that Yasuko was lost, but I have no idea how she found out where I live."

Yasuko takes a glance to look behind. "For the record, it was that Sora kid who found your house," she said. "I was just walking by."

Yuya couldn't argue with that. He had to agree with Yasuko on this one. "No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get rid of that pest," Yuya complained.

"If he's being such a pain, then just accept his conditions and be his teacher," Yasuko suggested, causing a rude feedback from Yuya.

"That is out of the picture!" Yuya exclaimed. "If I do that, then he'll just keep calling me, "Coach Y", on his own without my permission." They then heard a voice behind them, "Coach Y!"

"You see, just like that." Yuya proves his point; however, he soon stopped as he realized that it was Sora's voice speaking to him and turned around to see him walking behind them. "You again? When did you get here and were you following me?" Yuya questioned.

"Yeah!" Sora smiled at him.

Yuya turned towards Sora, with irritation coming in his face. "Look, I keep telling you, I never agreed to make you my student in the first place, now, just go away—"

"Come on, we haven't even started a lesson," Sora interrupted him. "So, come one, I'm ready to get started whenever you say." This infuriates Yuya even more and makes one step closer to Sora, who is shorter than him.

"When are you gonna get that, in your blue-haired head of yours, that I do not—" Yuya was interrupted again as Sora; however, began waving with his arms.

"Come on, you've gotta teach me," Sora begged. "When I saw you duel Sylvio, I knew that you were the greatest duelist ever, especially after that incredible Pendulum summoning." Sora looked like he was daydreaming when he looked at the sky. "I want to do that summoning too." he dreamt, but Yuya looked at him skeptically.

"Well, sorry to burst your bubble boy," said Yuya, "but can't exactly Pendulum summon because you don't have any Pendulum cards." Sora turned around and looked at Yuya with a disappointed look on his face.

"Then, please can you show it to me again, please, please, please," he begged in a fake sobering tone.

Yasuko wasn't sure if this was an act, or real but she decided to add some more information for the boy. "He's right," said Yasuko. "So far, the only Pendulum card holder that I know is Yuya."

Feeling bumped out, Sora then turned towards Zuzu. "Then maybe you can ask him to show it to me?" Sora asked Zuzu. "Bet he'd do it if you ask him to."

Zuzu looked at Sora with a troubled face. "Why should I do that, Sora?" Zuzu inquired as Sora looked at her, pleadingly "Because if Coach Y's girlfriend asks, there's no way he can't say no."

Zuzu felt her cheeks getting hot as she was blushing furiously and how her heart started to beat faster as she repeated the word, "G-Girlfriend?"

Yasuko heard her voice hesitating on the word "girlfriend". She tilts her head and looks between Zuzu and Yuya curiously. She didn't know these two, but she could ponder that these two people are very close when she first met them. Another idea popped into her head and propped her left palm to her fist.

Yasuko's palms hold the two people around their shoulders. She leans into Zuzu's ear and whispered, "You know… they say that a girl's crush turns to true love when a boy's protective nature seeps into their heart, and since yesterday, he was all out to protect you and those kids, that means he must be desperate for you. So, if you want, I can help you get him to ask you and then when you're all alone, you can make the first move…"

Zuzu's blush turned even redder. She was blushing so much that she turned her head away, forcing herself to yank herself away from Yasuko, and the girl leans into Yuya's ear and whispers to him. "Yuya, if you want to be a true Dueltainer, then you've got to make them be impressed, and they'll swoon for you, so give them another performance that will smack their hearts until they can't take it…"

Yuya looked at her with confusion written on his face. He doesn't seem to understand what Yasuko was talking about. "What are you whispering about?" Yuya asked.

Yasuko's shoulder sagged down like they were heavy. She can see how clueless Yuya is when it comes to something like relationships and personal feelings. "You're a clueless one, aren't you?" asked Yasuko, deadpanned.

Sora looked at her and Yuya. He thought of another solution to get what he needs and asks Yasuko a favor. "Yasuko, since you were Yuya's tag team partner, why not you ask him?" Sora suggested. "The way you duel with him makes a perfect team."

Yasuko's eyes narrowed at Sora. "Tag Team duels are based on teamwork between two duelists and obviously, I'm not going to ask him because he's a terrible partner," she disrespected.

This seemed to insult Yuya, making him step forward to Yasuko. "What do you mean I'm a terrible partner?!" he demanded. "I was dueling fine and everything without you!"

Yasuko takes a glance at him. "You nearly got me killed because you hesitated to get the Action Card or use your face-down. I have to bust my ass to save us," Yasuko stated, turning around to walk before Yuya made an insult.

"Hey, if it wasn't for you butting into my business, I would've handled them!"

Yasuko pointed at him. "Handle Sylvio and his goon squad?" She made a disgusted sound. "Please, you couldn't even get an Action Card let alone to that slack job's monkey who managed to find one before you did."

"I would've still searched for more Action cards if I had more time!" Yuya argued.

"There is nothing good about more timing if you can't keep your head focused," Yasuko contended.

"I was focused," Yuya complained. "Focusing on the duel!"

While Yuya and Yasuko argue amongst themselves, Sora takes this chance to lean over to Zuzu and asked her, "Are they always like this?"

Zuzu gives Sora a troubling smile. "They only met three days ago, and all I can say is…" Zuzu peeks over to see Yasuko and Yuya arguing on. She didn't know if she should tell them, but she assumes that Yasuko will soon realize it eventually "I'm seeing quite the opposites," Zuzu replied before stepping in to de-escalate the argument. "Now, Yuya, Yasuko, please, we should be heading to school now, it's almost 8:30." When Zuzu announced that, Yuya and Yasuko paused on their squatting and turned to Zuzu.

"She has a point," Yasuko agreed. "We're wasting time thanks to this little cry baby here making a statement."

Yuya was taken back from her insult and made another to counter. "Oh, come on, don't you remember that it was you and Sora that wasted our time, you ape." Yuya would soon regret calling her that because when Yasuko jerked at Yuya sharply.

Yasuko was glaring sharp daggers at him. "An Ape!?" she repeated. "What was that?!"

Yuya's confidence seemed to falter when he said "ape". "Oh, wait a minute, I didn't mean to say that, it's just that—" As fast as lightning, Yasuko drops her bags and grabs Yuya by the waist, locking her arms tightly. With such strength, she performs a powerful German suplex wrestling move.

"WHO'RE YOU CALLING AN APE!" Yasuko shouted as she thrusts Yuya to the ground very hard on the head. His face slammed to the ground like a bowling ball falling off the hands. His body rigged from the impact, frozen in place before Yasuko recovers herself and takes her belongings. Yuya collapses in pain.

Yasuko then walked away without noticing the frighten Zuzu and the amazed Sora. "Ape huh? Next time he calls me that again, I'll pummel him to the ground," Yasuko murmured angrily as she left Sora and Zuzu to contain the injured Yuya.

Zuzu manages to get a hold of herself from seeing Yasuko's raw strength and bends down at his level to give him some advice about his conversation with Yasuko. "Yuya…" Zuzu said out of concern. "A little note reminder: never call a girl an ape," she said angrily, feeling almost the same thing for Yasuko if she were to be called 'ape.'

"Geez, you should've warned me before she pummeled me…" Yuya grunted.

* * *

School was now in session and Yasuko held her head with her arm supporting her while listening to her teacher. Zuzu was on the same term, but Yuya wasn't. Yuya had placed his book in front of him so that the teacher wouldn't be able to see him looking at Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician. He had a bandage on his forehead because of what Yasuko did to him hours ago.

What Yuya doesn't know was that Sora was hanging upside down on a tree branch, looking at him through binoculars. "Coach Y' looks like he was troubled, I wonder why?" Sora asked himself. "I better find a way to turn his frown upside down."

* * *

Throughout the rest of the day, things didn't go very pleasant for Yuya. First, he was okay with Sora cheering him on a soccer game practice in the physical education class. The second was during lunch when he interrupted Zuzu and Yuya's lunch. The third was during class. Somehow, Sora was able to sneak inside the classroom behind Yasuko's seat.

As the day went by, Yuya starts to get a headache from Sora popping out of nowhere. He asked if he could head to the restroom, which he was allowed to go. Just as he left the room, Yasuko and Zuzu looked at each other. Zuzu looked nervous about where Yuya is heading into while

Yasuko remains steady, anticipating about the next move. "Hey, girl," Yasuko whispered to her. "You don't think that little twerp might actually follow him to the restroom, would he?"

"I think… " Zuzu whispered back until—

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!" Yuya's scream was heard from the whole school.

Yasuko looked on, realizing that Sora actually did it. "I knew it, he did it… " Yasuko said, shaking her head with disappointment when she realized Sora had followed Yuya to the bathroom.

* * *

School was over the rest of the day and Yasuko packs up her school work on her deck. She strapped in her gym bag when she started to notice that Yuya was looking way down than this morning. She could see how his eyes dropped over his cheeks. Yasuko has no idea how frustrating it must've been for Yuya. She thinks it over about how his day went. She figures that Sora won't stop bugging him until he can learn the art of Pendulum Summon.

Yasuko thinks it's best to talk to him. "Is that Sora kid bothering you again?" she wondered. Yuya sighs heavily as his response. "I'll take that as a yes then," she assumed.

"I guess it's been a real bother to him since yesterday," Zuzu explained. "I mean, when he showed up to be his student, he wouldn't stop following him."

"If you want it to stop, then just be his teacher," Yasuko suggested, causing Yuya to look up at her with disbelief.

"What? Don't tell me that you are on it!" Yuya accused.

"It's just an opinion, if I were to have a student, then I would accept it only to make it stop, but that's just me, this is your problem, you have to figure it out," Yasuko offered Yuya some advice if this would go on forever.

"But I can't be his teacher, I don't know much about this kid, and he's been a real pest to me throughout the day," Yuya complained. "You seem to be the one who is straightforward. Can you do something about him then?" Yuya suggested. "It'll be more appreciating if you go and talk to him since you and Sora came to my house." He was thinking that if Yasuko could reason with Sora since he saw her duel.

"As I said, it was just a coincidence," said Yasuko. "But if that's been a real pain in the ass for you, then just do something that will get your mind off him," she suggested a tip for things that were irritating to her. "That's how I usually do that." Yuya stared at her eyes, getting more tips from her.

"Would that work?" Yuya asked.

Yasuko shrugged for the answer. "Beats me, that's how I do it." Yasuko then picks up her bags and before she walks out the door, she turned back to Yuya and Zuzu. "In case all that failed, duel him."

Yuya was confused. "Duel… him?" he repeated what Yasuko said. "You mean duel Sora?"

"A duel is last resort in case they can't find a resolve, that's how I settle most of my problems these days," he said. "Didn't you believe that duels work out any problems?" Yasuko questioned Yuya if that can help his problems.

"I… guess," Yuya answered.

"Think about it," Yasuko advised before she heads for the door.

"Where are you going?" Zuzu asked.

"I'm going to do something for myself, so see ya later." And with that, Yasuko left the classroom with Yuya to think about dueling Sora.

"Duel Sora huh?" Yuya wondered.

* * *

Yasuko's bus stops at the bus stop where she can be dropped off. She hulls her bags on each side when she was looking at the place where she can be doing her own thing. Yasuko walks for several blocks, across the street, and turned around a corner when she came to where she was looking for.

"There it is…" said Yasuko. "Demetria Gym." The gym was just as big as a high school gym, but it specializes a different type of exercise. Yasuko walks towards the gym and opens the door for the bell to ring. There were two people at the desk, both of which were wearing something light such as tank tops, sweatpants, and some sneakers.

"Hey, is this Demetria Gym?" Yasuko called.

"Yep, this is the one," a young man with short hair in buzz cut confirmed. "Are you new here?"

"I came here on a transfer program, but I also do parkour," Yasuko explained.

"Then you've come to the right place, miss."

"Do I need to sign a waiver?"

"Yeah pretty much," he said. "If you wish to work out in here, then you need a parent's waiver unless you are eighteen or older."

"That's okay," said Yasuko. "I came prepared." Yasuko searches for something in her school bag until she picked out a paper to hand out. "I asked my guardian for this and she was objective about this, but at least she was convinced that I was doing this for Dueling."

"Dueling?" the young man inquired. "Are you a duelist?"

"Something like that," Yasuko replied.

"Alright then…" the man takes her paper to process her enrollment to the gym. "The fee is 10 dollars for entry in open gyms unless you'd be interested in taking classes."

"Oh, I'm interested alright," Yasuko added. "I just need to know the schedule about the classes."

"Which ones are you willing to attend?" The older one, a man who was in his twenties, asked her.

"Mmmm, that depends, 'cause I'm only here to drop off the waiver." Yasuko chatted. "I just need to do a few things for today." While the young man was working on the computer, the older one asked her, "What are you doing for the day?"

"I'm making some enrollments," Yasuko answered. The older man looked at her briefly.

"Okay," he said.

The older man comes back to the computer while the younger man goes to the entrance to the gym.

"What's your name?" Yasuko asked.

"Theo," he introduces himself. "Theo Fujikawa."

"Yasuko," she introduces back. "Yasuko Yukihana."

"Yasuko huh?" Theo repeated. "I'll keep that in mind." Yasuko nodded as Theo checked his screen.

"Okay, Yasuko, it's all set now," Theo confirmed. "Open gym's at 9:00 pm, if you want, I can show you around and tell you the obstacles we have for you."

"No thanks," Yasuko declined. "I'm only here to drop off the waiver, there are things I need to do." Yasuko collects her bags and walks out of the door before aging at Theo. "See ya tonight."

Yasuko exits the gym for her to grab her Duel disk and go to her list of things for the day. She taps her first thing on the list: apply for a gym; a parkour gym. The second to-do list is to find more about the town starting with the Duel Schools.

* * *

 **Just trying to build up my game here with the story, I know you're going to be expecting more duels later on, but I'm taking the time to get the thing over with and divide the time of duels and non-duels. So many possibilities and so many things to come up with. Other than that, the rest of the duels will only be near the appearance of Yasuko.**

 **I know it's not much, but this is all that I've come up with so far, so I do hope you've enjoyed reading this far. Keep on reading and stay tuned.**


	7. Chapter 7: Getting Acquainted

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 7: Getting Aquatinted._

* * *

The bright blue color shines from the sky. The sunlight beams down to the ground where everyone was resuming business as usual. Everyone was enjoying their days, but today's not the case for Yasuko. She isn't used to the whole city around her, and she wants to take the extra time of exploring around, but of course, there are small things that she must do for Diana.

So far, Yasuko stops by in a grocery store to pick up some errands for herself and for Diana. She picked up a bag of flour and baking mix for pancakes. Yasuko pays her grocery and stuffs them in her gym bag as she exits the store, only for her to be bumped behind by someone, causing her to spill all her groceries on the floor.

"Omph! You idiot!" Yasuko shouted. "Now look what you've done!" Yasuko hurries over to come to collect everything that was on the ground.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yasuko turned around and finds the same girl with pink and purple hair that she sees for some time now. "Oh, Yasuko, I didn't know that you were here?" said Zuzu.

"Zuzu, what gives the right to bump heads with me," Yasuko. "And nice to see you shopping on diet." Zuzu seems infuriated and before could even retort, Allie suddenly pops out of nowhere and gives Yasuko a hug.

"Yasuko!" said the red-haired girl. "Hi!" While Allie hugs her, Yasuko felt slightly disturbed by the feeling of anyone touching her again. The little girl wrapped around her waist. The fact that a person making any touch contact with her seems to get on her nerve.

"Hey there." Yasuko gives a pat on her head. "Allie, is it?"

"Mm-hmm." Allie nodded. "What are you doing here?"

"I was walking by, picking up some errands," Yasuko replied. "What are you and Zuzu doing here?"

"I went to come to pick this up." Zuzu held a grocery bag in front of her.

"Why?" Yasuko asked.

"None of your business," Zuzu scowled and turned her head away to avoid Yasuko's narrowed eyes.

"Hey, that was very rude," said Allie. "Zuzu, she helped Yuya save us from when we were hostages, you could at least show her gratitude." Zuzu was sure that Allie was right. Even though it was only Yuya who saved them, Yasuko did the best that she could, but then again, it was her fault for escalating the duel. Her gaze softens and looked at Yasuko, but it didn't hold any positive side. Their eyes matched on how they look at each other.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," said Zuzu. "It's just…Why are you always like this? Being rude to people? Or you just don't like attitude?"

Yasuko turns her head away from Zuzu. "There's a difference between annoyance and hating something that doesn't deserve to be hated," she answered. "But I do hate a lot of things."

Zuzu got confused on which "stuff" she hates. "Like what?"

"Like too much work or too many things," Yasuko answered. "But why do you have a grocery bag?"

Zuzu smiles generously that she reminded her of something she was supposed to do back at the school. "It's for me, really, but Yuya and the others wanted some ice cream too," she said.

"Couldn't those guys get ice cream of their own and not have a girl help get it for them?" Yasuko questioned. "Cause I'm guessing they're a pain in the butt for being so lazy."

Zuzu laughed after Yasuko said that. She had to agree on one thing about the boys back at You Show. "I know, right?" she continued to laugh that made Yasuko nodded in agreement. They both seem to hate getting stuff for the boys if they couldn't do it themselves

"Where are you heading?" Yasuko questioned.

"Back to You Show," Zuzu answered.

"You Show? The Duel school that you and Yuya talked about?" Yasuko inquired. "Why did you join You Show?"

Zuzu was caught by surprise on Yasuko's question. "Eh?" she inquired.

"I mean, why did you join You Show? Your dad could've put you in a different school, and yet you chose to attend the one Yusho built?" Yasuko asked. "God, saying Yusho and "You Show" is a lot confusing when I'm saying it out loud."

Zuzu seems to understand something a little about Yasuko. She knows that Yasuko doesn't have any particular interest for Duel Schools and that Yasuko has no benefit for making an appearance, but she can't help but wonder why she is so curious about her duel school.

"Why you asked?" Zuzu questioned.

Yasuko looks the other way. "I just don't quite understand why there are Duel Schools? Sure, they teach you a lot of Dueling techniques, but I just don't see why anyone would want to join them in the first place?"

Zuzu is starting to see the bigger picture that Yasuko doesn't. It would seem that Yasuko doesn't quite grasp the reason why there are Duel Schools in the first place. She never thought of even applying for one before. Maybe that's why she is very hesitant in the tag-team when Yuya gives her the spotlight. It would seem that is the reason why she is questioning her about the Duel School that she and Yuya both go to.

"You've never done that before," asked Zuzu. "I mean, applying for a Duel School?"

Yasuko shook her head. "Nope," she answered. "Not really." She turns her head back to face Zuzu. "I just don't quite see why there needs to be one when everyone can just learn to Duel first hand."

Zuzu raises an eyebrow. "Is that how you've learned to Duel in the first place?" she continued to ask more questions about Yasuko; she doesn't know more about Yasuko or how her life has been.

"Maybe," Yasuko responded.

Even though Zuzu and Yasuko are still not on good terms, it'll be helpful for Zuzu to give her something to know about the Duel School that she goes. "When I was young, my dad and Yuya's dad often talk about wanting to build a duel school together where they can have everyone be just as happy as the audience who watched Yuya'a dad," she explained in detail. "I mean, I wasn't even sure about attending Duel School at first," she admitted.

"Really?" Yasuko asked, intrigued.

Zuzu nodded. "But when I saw Yuya's dad duel in front of the stage, I was amazed by how he made everyone smile with just his dueling alone. And that's when Yuya got into the Dueltainment business, so if he thinks he can duel like his dad, then I want to become a duelist like my own dad." Zuzu holds a beaming smile thinking to the day when the You-Show Duel School first opened. "It was a struggle at first, but we managed to get through."

Allie joins in as well to explain to Yasuko. "I joined two years ago," she said. "I didn't really think of You-Show at first. I was thinking of going to Reginal Duel School because I was always told that I have a pretty face, but when I heard about how fascinating You Show was, I just can't help but to join in and become just like Yuya. He's a funny guy, but he's amazing."

Yasuko glances between Allie and Zuzu. "And I supposed Tate and Frederick want in because of Yuya, right?" she assumed.

Correctly, Zuzu nodded. "Tate just entered after Yuya's match with Strong Ishjima," she answered. "Hey, why not you come with us back to You Show?" she offered if Yasuko is willing to join her. "Maybe…if you want… I can show you around the places that we do, the things we work on, and a lot more."

Yasuko didn't know how to feel about Zulu's sudden change to her attitude. She thinks if she has the time to do that and checks the time that there still plenty to come by until her curfew.

"Sure, I've got nothing else to do," said Yasuko.

And so, the three girls walked back to You Show duel school through a route that Zuzu mentioned whenever they go to the school. The river streams next to them as Yasuko, Zuzu and Allie walk back to You Show. The area was so calm that nobody doesn't seem to be using this route when dusk was in the sky. While they were walking, Yasuko decided to start a conversation with Zuzu and Allie.

"So, what got you interested in dueling?" Yasuko asked Zuzu.

"Well, I got interested when I was five," Zuzu started to explain about her past. "My dad was a duelist and he was really good friends with Yuya's dad.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow, wondering about her relations to Yuya. "So, you and that clown guy are childhood friends then?" Yasuko inquired.

"Yeah," said Zuzu. "I've known Yuya for a long time."

"You mind if I have an ice cream?" Yasuko requested, which Zuzu agreed to do so. She lifts her bag up for Yasuko to pick one and she did. Yasuko takes an ice cream and peels the top seal like a banana and bites on the cold frosty treat.

"You and Yuya know each other for how long?" Yasuko asked.

"Since kindergarten," Zuzu replied. "I've known him that long to know who he is."

Yasuko figures how she saw Zuzu blushing when Sora talked about being Yuya's girlfriend. "Whatever and what about that Sora kid?" Yasuko asked, chewing her ice cream bar. She wondered about Sora because she hasn't seen him in the past two days ago.

"He's doing alright. Sora's a very good duelist. I mean, he can make a Fusion Summon despite not being a Leo student," Zuzu stated.

"Wait, Fusion Summon?" Yasuko inquired. "What do you mean?"

Zuzu turns up to her. "Sora did a Fusion Summon on a duel against Yuya," she revealed.

This is surprising for Yasuko. Normally, nobody wouldn't take her own advice because some of them would be, as Yasuko would describe them by other people, dumb to even listen to them. "What? Yuya dueled Sora?" she questioned. "So, he actually took my own advice for once."

Zuzu nodded. "And I've been thinking about doing a something like Fusion Summon too." That's another surprise for Yasuko because she never knew that Zuzu was interested in doing a summoning method. In fact, Yasuko never saw how Zuzu dueled considering that she is a duelist. She does not know what is Zuzu's specialty in her deck. She knows that Zuzu can duel, but she may get a chance to see how Zuzu plays in duels.

"Really?"

Zuzu nodded. "Yeah, I've been hearing a lot about Fusion Summon, and it seems to be interesting," said Zuzu. "The same goes for Synchro or Xyz, but I don't think I can pull it off."

"That's rather better to learn not by the books, but by dueling itself," said Yasuko, "I just happen to learn any one of them after dueling." She eats the last bit of her ice cream bar. She throws the wrapping into a garbage can disposal and slung her gym bag closer to her. She glances at Zuzu with curiosity. She wonders about Yuzu's opinions on other summoning methods that could interest her. "Have you had any thoughts about Synchro and Xyz Summon?" Yasuko asked Zuzu.

She looked ahead, pondering her thoughts about Synchro and Xyz summons. "I'm not sure about those really," said Zuzu, looking at the ground, pondering deep in her thoughts. "Hey, Yasuko, I've been meaning to ask you, can you do Synchro and Xyz summon?" Zuzu questioned,

Yasuko only shrugged as her excuse for an answer. "Maybe, or maybe not." Yasuko turned to Zuzu, looking at her directly in the eye. "I'm just a person who duels."

"But don't you have any goals? Any plans?" Zuzu queried. "I mean, do you want to be a pro duelist?"

Yasuko raises an eyebrow at the idea of being a professional duelist. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to be a pro duelist just how everyone else wants to be. The last time she tryout to be a pro, she never passes the entrance to advance. "I'm…not quite sure really." Yasuko gives a shrug for an answer. "I don't have any specific goal for dueling, like I don't duel for money, fame, or thrill. I duel because I duel, nothing more or nothing less…" she answered honestly, having no thought about that goal.

"Is that so?" Zuzu asked.

"I don't really know," said Yasuko, shaking her head that she may disagree with her opinion. "All I know is that dueling helped my problems whenever there are things that I can't handle. It's just necessary."

"But what do you do for fun?" Zuzu continues to press on with her questions.

Yasuko is starting to be more uncomfortable. She never had an actual conversation with anyone before. Usually, she would just talk short and let her mind wander off to something. "Sleep and parkour," Yasuko answered.

"Now that's not fun when you're going to bed or sprain your ankle all the time," Zuzu said blankly. "How about dueling? Can you duel for fun?"

Yasuko blinked once, confused about what Zuzu was referring to. "Duel...for fun?" Yasuko repeated.

"Yeah," Allie smiled. "We don't duel just because we duel for winning or losing. We duel for fun."

Yasuko looked down a bit, thinking about what Zuzu and Allie were talking about. Dueling for fun? Can she ever think of that than just dueling for nothing? Allie looked at her confused when she sees how Yasuko didn't react to her comment. She held that same stern looks on her face that made Allie ask her a question that snapped her out of her thoughts.

"What's wrong, Yasuko?" she asked out of concern.

"Oh, it's nothing, I've just been…" Yasuko looked up and pause when she spotted something. She gasped and brought Zuzu down next to Allie

"Hey what is it?" Allie asked, but Yasuko shushed at her, and then looked up to the road above them. Zuzu and Allie followed her gaze and saw two of Sawatari's friends walking on the road above them while they carried the plastic bag and a lunch box.

"I never seen Sylvio all fired up." Yasuko recognized that green haired boy as Yamabe, her first opponent since the tag team duel.

"You know it," said the brown-haired boy. "He went all saying things, 'When I get my hands on Yuya Sakaki', it sure not gonna be pretty huh?"

"Yeah, it sure sounds like he's gonna be attacking that guy's weak spots to make him lose focus on the duel." Yamabe nodded his head with a smirk.

Zuzu and Allie gasped in shock, while Yasuko narrowed her eyes in suspicions. They heard how Ootomo said, "Oh man, look at the time, it's best we hurry, after all he gets even more selfish when he gets hungry." Yamabe nodded and they began to run faster.

"Well, I guess my welcome has gotten me an enemy," said Yasuko, standing up.

Zuzu stood up with an angry expression on her face. "Sylvio, you damn coward…" She began to run to follow them, leaving Yasuko with a worried and scared Allie.

"Hey, wait!" Allie called, as she followed too, causing Yasuko to sigh heavily.

"Damn it, now I'm gonna be late," Yasuko complained before she runs after them.

* * *

Yasuko, Zuzu, and Allie managed to follow them to a port near the city district. The sun was starting to go down even further, and the sky was turning even darker. The girls stood behind a few boxes outside of the warehouse while Yamabe and his other pal entered a warehouse.

Zuzu looked towards the doors with narrowed eyes. Yasuko was leaning against the wall. Allie looked at her, troubled by her sudden change to go after Sylvio's goons.

"What are we doing here?" Allie asked Zuzu. "Shouldn't we go and warned Yuya about what they're planning to do?"

"She's right you know," Yasuko agreed with the little girl. "We've already confirmed his location, so we should be heading back and tell Yuya that Sylvio is going to pulverize him again," Yasuko suggested; however, Zuzu looked at the door, ignoring and Yasuko.

 _"When Yuya and Yasuko dueled against Sylvio, they gave it all just to help me so now it's my chance to return the favor,"_ she thought as she narrowed her eyes. Zuzu was so lost in her thought that Yasuko took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

Zuzu turned back to her and saw the serious look in her eyes. "Zuzu, whatever you're planning; don't," Yasuko cautioned. "If you go in there and they start to gang up on you, then it'll be too late."

"I know what you mean, Yasuko," said Zuzu. "But I can't just let them do that to Yuya."

Zuzu then held out the bag to Yasuko, who took it with a confused look on her face. "Yasuko, I have to do this on my own, so please go back to You Show without me."

Yasuko looked at her as her eyes widened, "Hey, wait, Zuzu, you can't just—"

Before Yasuko could protest, Zuzu already ran out from behind the boxes and ran towards the ports of the warehouse.

"Zuzu!" Yasuko called to her, but she didn't listen. She looked at her running figure with an irritated look on her face. "Son of a…that girl's just a pest as that Yuya boy," she said. Yasuko stuffs the bag into her gym bag and held Allie's hand. "C'mon now, let's go." Yasuko insisted.

"But, what about Zuzu?" Allie asked.

"Don't worry about her, she can take care of herself," she assured to her, but murmured to herself, "I think."

At the same time, unnoticed to Yasuko or anyone else around the hanger docks, there was a masked person standing on the roof of one of the warehouses looking at LDS building in the distance. He heard someone come running in his direction and turns around and look down to see Zuzu running toward the ports of one of the warehouses. His eyes widened behind his goggles when he saw the girl's face.

"It can't be… what are you doing here?" He wondered.

* * *

Yasuko and Allie took a jog to You Show, but Yasuko had other ideas. Since she doesn't want to do the running all the time, she held Allie's arm, taking her back to the bus stop that they just past.

"Hey! What are you doing!?" Allie shouted.

"We're going to be waiting," Yasuko answered. Allie looked up to her in shock and wrenched her hands out of her arm.

"But why!" Allie protested. "We have to save Zuzu! She may be in danger!"

"Just hold your horses," Yasuko said calmly. "There's no need to rush into things if Zuzu is going to be dueling Sylvio." She then looked her duel disk for the time. "Come to think of it, I bet Sylvio would never play dirty if he dueled a girl."

Allie looked shocked that Yasuko was relaxed while Zuzu is going to be risking her life. "But we can't wait here forever!" Allie exclaimed. "We have to warn Yuya!" Allie breaks off to run away, but Yasuko held her back by the shirt, gripping tightly as the little girl tries to break free from her grasp. "Let go of me!" Allie cried. "We have to go warn Yuya!"

No matter how much Allie struggles with her grip, Yasuko holds on firmly, but not strong enough to hurt the child. "And we will," Yasuko replied in her same calm voice. "We just need a better transportation to reach to You Show on time." Yasuko makes a glance at the little girl. She could see how desperate she must be to get back to You Show. She then checks back at her duel disk for the time. "I've been taking the bus more often than walking or running, so if I'm right then it should be coming arriving… right about…" Yasuko didn't need to finish because the sound of the bus stopping at the station.

"There, see." Yasuko pointed out. "What did I tell ya?" Yasuko grabbed Allie's hand and walks inside. "This is the last bus schedule for the day before it goes back to the station, so we have time." Yasuko and Allie entered the bus and takes the seat near the front while the driver closes the door and leaves.

* * *

The sun was nearly gone and there was barely any sunlight left in the sky. As the bus drove past a crossroad, Yasuko checks the ice cream in the bag while Allie sits next to her. There were barely any passengers on the bus in this late hour. Yasuko and Allie can't be sure how long will the bus will get to a station that's close to You Show. All they can do was wait until Yasuko could see the street that leads to the school. Yasuko unzips her gym bag to check the ice cream bag. She's been constantly checking on the ice cream so that it doesn't ruin her bag by the time they get to the school.

"Let's hope the ice cream doesn't melt in my bag," said Yasuko.

This seemed to shock Allie that she doesn't care of what happens to Zuzu now that she's alone with Sylvio and his friends. "That's what you're worried about?!" Allie exclaimed.

"Since Zuzu gave this stockpile of frosting, I have to make sure the ice cream doesn't melt," Yasuko replied. "I can't have all that frosting stains in my bag." She looks out in the window, watching the streets go by. "If it melts and if they melt in this bag, then they're going to owe me."

"You're worried about the ice cream being melted while Zuzu is in danger," Allie stated. "What kind of person are you?"

Again, Yasuko tries to give the little girl reassurance about Zuzu's well-being. "I'm sure Zuzu is fine," she assured. "I bet that Sylvio wouldn't want some girl to take the push of him again after I beat him in our last match."

"You sure did crush him in that tag team," Allie reminded her.

"I was handicapped because Yuya was pulling me back all the time," Yasuko commented.

"But do you care about Yuya?" Allie asked her a question. "At first, you seem to hate him."

Yasuko blinks in surprise. Sure, she finds Yuya Sakaki to be irritating as hell to her perspective, but at the same time, she can admit that he does have a heart. "I don't hate him," Yasuko replied. "I just don't like people with obnoxious manners." She looks down at Allie in her eyes. "Honestly, I could feel sorry for how Zuzu puts up with him."

Allie tilts her head. "But Yuya's your friend, isn't he?" she asked.

Yasuko's face turned down when Allie said that. The word 'friend' made her turn her head away from Allie's gaze to look at the seat in front of her. Her face turns to a bit sulky when Allie wonders if she had any people she considers as friends. Deep down, there was this gap in her heart that waged her from being like all the others. To be honest with herself, she never actually made any real friendship. She never even got to know anyone she met personally.

"I don't have friends," Yasuko admitted. "I never did."

"What?!" Allie gasped in shock. "You mean you don't have a single friend?"

With a shake of her head, Yasuko gives an ominous reply. "Never." Yasuko looks at the window that looks like time moving so fast in movies. "You wouldn't understand. I was adopted; I never really…fit in well. When Chloe took me in, she brought me to Japan, and after that, I've always been by myself for most of the time except for my mom," Yasuko continued to explain without looking at Allie.

The little girl felt like her heart was starting to grow heavy when Yasuko is explaining to her. Allie thought that she wouldn't understand her, but at least she's enough to make her listen to her story.

"When I was… six, maybe…seven…" she tried to ponder what she can remember much about her childhood. "I was practically alone. I had no one. The only one that I ever had contact with is my mom. She kinda took me in so to stay. I was raised in a small little village called Wangkou. I don't even remember anything about my real mother, or my real father… I don't even know if I have a brother or a sister."

As Yasuko continues to talk about her past, Allie's face was growing sadder that she felt sorry for the girl. "Not even one?" Allie asked.

"Pretty much," Yasuko answered.

For a while, Allie looked at Yasuko with sorrow. She didn't know that Yasuko has no one to rely on or be with since she came to the city, or maybe, her entire life. Despite her attitude to people like Yuya or Zuzu, Allie can see that she is fragile. Anyone who lived in a life of solitude could be painful.

She thought of one thing to do something right and looked up at Yasuko. "Then I'll be your friend," Allie declared.

Yasuko lifted her head and looked down to the little girl by surprise. "Huh?"

"Since you did your best to save me and Zuzu and all the others back at Leo Institute, I'll be your friend," Allie smiled, as she grabs her arm to hug her. "That way, you'll never be alone."

Yasuko couldn't help, but to be surprised at the little girl's attitude at her. Normally, the children would've just ignored her because she may be a bad influence due to her anti-social behaviors, according to some parents, but Allie was making her way to be a friend that she never had. She doesn't know what to say to the child; she just stares down on her like she was some kind of a lost cat. Before she could say anything, the bus let out a jerk that rocks the entire seat as Yasuko looks ahead. "Oh look, we're here," Yasuko called.

Allie looks outside and recognized the road that leads them to the You Show Duel School. "Alright, now come on!" Allie insisted as she tucks Yasuko's sleeves to get her going. Yasuko grabs her gym bag as she and Allie both exit out of the bus as the vehicle drives off. "Come on, it's this way!" Allie pulls Yasuko's sleeves to run down the street to where she can be able to see the big sign ahead. Allie and Yasuko waste no time to sprint as fast as they could to You Show Duel School.

On the other side of the street, Yasuko happens to notice a very big sign on top of one of the buildings across the street. She turns to it and finds it read:

 _You Show Duel School_

"Wait a minute? This is You Show Duel School? Looks like some kid's indoor playground if you ask me," Yasuko commented on the school's design. She couldn't tell if this was really a school or some indoor playing field. All there was a red staircase pole, a yellow swirly slide, some tunnel glass on the roof, and a cage rooftop.

Yasuko walks across the street before she stops in front of the building and pushed the doors open. Unlike Leo Institute's big hallways, the school was practically smaller. There were no comfy couches or resting place like LDS. It looks like it was an office break room.

"Yuya!" Allie called to him.

Yasuko turned to another corner and saw four boys; Yuya, Sora, Tate, and Frederick all waiting in the lounge. They saw them running; however, Allie tripped and was about to fall, Yuya quickly moved towards her catch her before she could fall to the floor while Frederick caught the plastic bag, she had lost her grip on when she tripped, and Yuya manages to catch her.

Yuya looked at Allie who was catching her breath, "What's the big hurry, Allie?" Yuya asked her before he turned to Yasuko, who just entered the lounging room. His face turned to a glare when he sees her back in You Show. "Hey, what are you doing here, Yasuko?" he said in a ruder manner. Yasuko was narrowing her eyes to see that his grudge hasn't even changed since today.

"You're still pissed about what happened at school?" Yasuko inquired.

"Of course, I was angry!" Yuya exclaimed, pointing at her. "You just smacked me to the ground and left me there!"

"I don't like being called ape, home-boy," Yasuko pointed out as she opened her gym bag and throws the bag full of ice cream to the Frederick, who catches it. Frederick and Sora investigated the bag, but they had a disappointed expression.

"Oh man, the ice cream has melted," Frederick complained.

"Oh man, what a waste," Sora whined, wobbling the melted ice cream bar.

"Are you kidding!?" Yasuko exclaimed in anger. "I've been making an ice cream delivery for Zuzu and this is what happened to me?" Yasuko scowled at the other direction, profiling her anger to the one girl who made her deliver the melted sticky treat. "Damn it Zuzu… you owe me," she murmured lowly, but Yuya heard her.

"Where's Zuzu?" Yuya asked. "Wasn't she supposed to get them?" Yuya then looked at Allie, and when he saw her eyes, he got a bad feeling when he saw tears gathering in her eyes. "Allie, what's wrong? Did something happen to Zuzu?"

Allie started to sob as tears started to run down her cheeks. "Zuzu is in danger!" Allie sobbed.

"When we were walking, we overheard one of Sylvio's goon squad planning on making a drop to us for humiliating them in the tag Duel, so she went out to Duel Sylvio," Yasuko explained the situation to Yuya. He grabbed Yasuko's shoulders and looked her in the eyes. Yuya got worried, remembering how Sylvio's friends had taken Zuzu and the kids hostage before their tag duel, so even if Zuzu won they would most likely use her against him.

"Where are they?" Yuya demanded.

"It's in the harbor, warehouse 52," Yasuko stated as she wrenched Yuya's hand off her shoulder.

"Alright then! Let's go!" And with that, Yuya sprints out of the lounging room with a bewildered Yasuko behind.

"Hey wait! Do you even know where the harbor is?!" Yasuko called, but he was already long gone, much to her annoyance. "Dumbass," she muttered before she bends down and places a hand on Allie's shoulder.

Yasuko isn't sure of how she can handle a crying child, but she is doing her best to keep Allie calm. "Hey," she said. "Don't be sad; stay positive and remember; good things come when you stay positive, alright?"

Allie smiled wanly and rubs her eyes to wipe her tears away. "Okay." And with that, Yasuko grabs her gym bag and runs after Yuya.

* * *

The sun has completely set at the horizon and the street lights have lit up. When there was a night like this, Yasuko wished she would be back home, but it's obvious that Diana's going to be mad since the situation got to her. She turned around to a corner to where the harbor was. Breathing in and out of her mouth, she grows more exhausted to find the boy who ran ahead without her.

"Damn it…" she panted in exhaustion. "Where the hell is he?"

"Yasuko!" Yuya's voice can be heard from somewhere, calling her. Yasuko turned to the source and she finds Yuya running up towards her. He was exhausted too. His sweat ran down from his forehead and drops to the ground like a raindrop.

"Did...you...find...Zuzu?" he asked, panting at the same time.

"Are you an idiot?" Yasuko retorted. "The port's that way!" She pointed her hand to show Yuya the direction of where the port is.

Yuya nodded and raised his fist up determinedly. "Alright thanks, now we've just got to go and save Zuzu," Yuya proclaimed; however, Yasuko has a different answer for that.

"Uh, not we…" Yasuko announced. "You."

From that answer, Yuya held two hands in shock that Yasuko is not coming with him. "Huh?!" he gasped. "Why not?!"

Yasuko had found out something that comes to her mind and shifted away from Yuya. She held her left arm and smoothed it uncomfortably to gather the courage to tell Yuya. "I… have a curfew," Yasuko answered.

"Is some curfew not worth Zuzu's well-being?!" Yuya exclaimed.

"It's already sunset and if it gets darker, Diana is going to be very angry about me, so… I'm no good if I have to make it back before dark." Yasuko didn't answer to any more questions or having any comments about her actions as she turns towards the opposite direction and walks away but Yuya paused her by grabbing her shoulder.

"Hey, I need you to help me in this one," Yuya declared, but Yasuko glance at him.

"Not this time," Yasuko declined. "This isn't like that tag team duel we've done back there, this is personal, and you have to confront him alone, for your Zuzu."

Yuya stared at her in shock that she is refusing to help him. "But Yasuko…" Yuya didn't say a word when she removed his hands off her shoulder. She turns back to gaze in his red eyes with her blue eyes to show her support.

"I'm sorry I can't help you right at this moment, but I have faith that you will make it, or to say the least, fail," she told him. "Either way goes, good luck, Yuya." And with that Yasuko walks away from him, leaving Yuya in disbelief.

"Yasuko…" Yuya sympathized.

* * *

By the time it was night, Yasuko was sure enough to believe that Diana is going to be very angry with her leaving out in the night. She paced herself by jogging until she can see Diana's house and started walking towards the house. She removes her shoes and enters the house. Once inside, Yasuko drops off a couple of errands on the counter for Diana.

"I hope that Diana didn't notice that I was this long gone," said Yasuko.

"I did." Diana's voice nearly gives her a jump, yelling in surprise that Diana is already waiting for her with an apron strapped on. "Where have you been, young lady."

Yasuko tossed her bag down and looked at Diana. "I was sightseeing the city." She made up an excuse, using her agenda as the only excuse for the cover.

"And it took ya almost all day just to something in the city to make pancakes?" Diana interrogated.

"Pretty much," Yasuko shrugged. "I couldn't count how many this place has considering that this is still relatively new to me," she excused.

Diana sighed heavily, holding her head, and shaking it at the same time. "You and your antics," she said. "I wonder how your mother ever put up with this."

Yasuko took her time to ponder her thoughts together and instead, she shrugged as an answer. "I don't know," she said. "I guess she's used to it."

"Mm." Diana hummed before she points her spoon at the kitchen. "Anyways, help yourself with some of the alfredo pasta I made, hope that would satisfy your journey."

Yasuko bowed her head slightly. "Thank you: I promise it will never happen again," she vowed.

"Don't worry," Diana assured. "You kids always tend to be late most of the time, just don't stay too late after curfew," Diana pointed her spoon at Yasuko, "otherwise there won't be any dinner for you with you miss it."

Yasuko nodded. "I understand, Diana Luciana."

A smile formed in Diana's face as she patted her head. "Good." Yasuko blushed slightly with when Diana is treating her like a kid. This was embarrassing for her because she usually does this to Allie but coming from her caretaker is a bit humiliating. She hates people treating her like a kid. "Anyways, I'll be going to bed soon, so good night." Diana walks back in the kitchen with Yasuko following.

When they entered the kitchen, Yasuko sees a plate of alfredo on the table as Diana removes her apron before looking at her. "By the way, have you thought of a Duel school you would be applying?" she asked.

"No," Yasuko answered.

The caretaker is intrigued about Yasuko not choosing to enter a Duel School. "Oh, and why not?" Diana asked again.

"Because I don't have any particular interest in those things," she replied which gets Diana to ask her more questions despite not wanting to.

"But you're a duelist, are you not? How were you able to duel if you didn't go to a duel school?" she asked, but all that Yasuko could give was a shrug.

"I don't know," said Yasuko. "I'm just good at it. I mean, sure there are some expectations, but I don't think it's my thing to even be a part of that system."

Diana placed her apron on her counter and turns around while leaning back with a gleeful eye. "Well, Chloe once told me you were always engaging in duels to solve your problems, but you never duel for the fun of it, so I thought maybe…if you want, I got you some copy of the duel school applications in your room across the city so that I can leave you to have some thought of it, and then if you feel like joining, you can talk to me about it."

Yasuko didn't seem to mind, but she doesn't want Diana to choose a random Duel School for her. She wouldn't even want to look at what kind of duel school they have considering that they each follow a specific code of order. "But are you willing to let me if you approve one just in case?" Yasuko questioned.

"Well…" Diana looks at the ceiling. "Chloe said you didn't get along with anyone at your school, and seeing how this city brought your attention, I may allow you to enter, but I want you to ask yourself this: what do you want out of joining a duel school? Is it for the thrill of dueling? Or something more?" Diana questioned Yasuko's s true motive for joining a duel school in the first place.

"I guess I'll decide for myself," said Yasuko.

There were no more words to exchange as Yasuko grabs a fork to eat the alfredo while Diana goes upstairs to clean herself.

* * *

Yasuko could only think about some shut eyes until the sunbeams on her from the window again. She removes her deck from her duel disk and lies it on the table. She puts down her crystal pendant keychain down on the table next to her deck.

"Someday huh?" said Yasuko, more likely to herself. She looks over the pile of papers that were on her desk. It was very bizarre to see so many applications for a duel school across the city that is not as big as Tokyo. At least it's not like Tokyo where it would be too much to look over.

For the rest of the night, Yasuko checks on some of the duel schools based on the applications that Diana printed. She crumbles up the ones that were worthless and follows a code that everyone follows. After looking over and researching, her eyes feel like they are about to fall over after reading the applications and "little" research on the duel school.

She happens to come to the last application that was on the bottom. The application of You-Show Duel School. She picks up the "You Show" application form. She thought back to the words from Allie and Zuzu. They told her that dueling is fun, but she wasn't sure to believe that. She thought that dueling was her way of solving problems. Dueling for fun seemed illogical to Yasuko. She doesn't even know or believe in fun. But then, Diana was suggesting something else about dueling. She pondered all of this information to what would dueling be about.

"What do I want out of dueling?" she wondered. Yasuko can't decide for herself and places the application form down on her table before grabbing a towel and leaves her room.

In this small house bedroom, the darkness from the night sky blankets everything from the closet to her keychain on the desk. While it may seem like for hours in the dark, something was illuminating the room. The bright light shines from Yasuko's keychain. The crystal pendant keychain started to glow like a nightlight. The glow was so bright that it turns the entire room into day. As the keychain glows, something was also glowing. A selection of certain cards from Yasuko's deck are illuminating along with the keychain. The glow lasts for only another moment before the crystal keychain stops glowing along with the cards that were shimmering inside the deck.

By the time Yasuko returned to the room all washed up and cleaned, there was nothing wrong or suspicious about what just happened last night.

* * *

 **Alright, still trying to build up the game here, originally, I was going to make her come across the school, but then again, I thought maybe it would be weird and bad to not try and break character. Anyways, if you wonder how I'm going to tell you about the past, I'm going to break it down little by little. There will be more details of the past life I have planned.**

 **If you managed to continue reading at this point, I hope you enjoyed it so far. What do you think? Does it need something to improve? I know it tends to get boring because of the long chapters, but I like reading big novels and stories and tend to make them almost the same length. So stay tuned, the next chapter will be the start of the LDS vs You Show soon.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Accusation

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 8: The Accusation_

* * *

High in the blue sky was a private plane that was owned by someone with a lot of money and power. On board was a mid-thirty age woman with blue eyes and magenta hair curled into the shape of a heart. She wears a dark pink skirt and blouse with a high collar lined in black, and padded shoulders, in addition to magenta high-heeled shoes with golden attachments that resemble snakes curling around her ankles.

She was looking at the digital photo of her success in doing business with a foreign ambassador. This satisfies her to the point where she smiles. She heard the pilot from the loudspeaker to fasten seat belts, which she already has, and prepares to land at Maiami International Airport. She looks out in the window and could see the LDS Tower from the distance.

A short while after landing, she was picked up by Claude in a limousine. The car drives them back the Leo Corporation headquarters while discussing the news.

"Congratulations on your successful negotiations, Madam Chairwoman Henrietta," Claude commented her success to spread business overseas.

"Thank you, Claude," said the woman. "It seems that everything is going according to plan so far." She then looks at her left to see the investments that the Leo Corporation has created. "And what a plan it is. To grow the Leo Institute to new heights. Oh… it will be grand. Very soon, with the help of the Leo Institute, Dueling will touch every part of the globe; it will become the entire way of life."

"Yes, your hard work is starting to show, and the president is pleased with the results; however…" Henrietta eyes narrowed at Claude with a certain confusion written on her face.

"However, what…?" Henrietta inquired.

Claude leans forward slightly to get to the point. "While you were gone, Madam Chairwoman, there has been some intriguing developments," he informed. "Developments that all stand for something called Pendulum Summon." Henrietta narrows her eyes even further to the new summoning method that has not been known to the Leo Corporation.

* * *

Henrietta arrives at the Leo Corporation headquarters some time ago. She walks to the office where the CEO is waiting for her arrival. The doors automatically open and the same young man who watched the tag team duel the other day stands there waiting for her. He looks to be around sixteen to seventeen years old, quite often young to be a CEO. His gray hair was silky, and his purple eyes are a show of his serious demeanor. He wore a navy-blue sweater with white pants that end just above his ankles, and white shoes along with a long red scarf.

"Welcome back, Mother." The young man greets Henrietta who happens to be his mother.

"Declan, have you heard about this new summoning method?" the mother asked Declan, her eldest son. "From what I've heard, this new summoning method is different from Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz. In fact, it's not like any other summoning method the world has ever encountered."

Declan adjusts his glasses once before looking directly at his mother's eyes. "Yes mother," he said, calm proficiency runs through in his tone. "It's true," he confirmed that the existences of the new summoning method are real. "I think you better sit down." He gestured his mother to the couches to show his mother something.

While his mother walks to it, he takes out a remote and the wide screen lowers down. "These bits of footage we've compiles will show a great story." The screen then lit up and the video of Yuya's duel against Strong Ishjima aka the Sledgehammer appeared on the screen.

She watches how Yuya held up Stargazer Magician and Timegazer Magician, placing two cards at each end of the disk and how two monsters appeared in the tower light, and three multiple monsters coming out of the portal and appeared in front of the field. The news was so astonishing that she look back at Declan.

"Pendulum Summon?" Henrietta inquired. "How can this be?" This was nothing she had heard about or seen before. The boy had summoned three monsters at the same time and one had been a level 7 monster without tributing.

"By way of a new type of card quite oddly called a Pendulum Card. As you saw, by utilizing two Pendulum cards, you can summon numerous high-level monsters," Declan explained. "It's a powerful technique."

His mother looks at her son with such astonishment. Two cards that can summon multiple monsters without having to tribute a monster is quite powerful. "These cards…where did that come from?" she demanded the origins of the Pendulum card. "Could it be the work of that person?" she questioned with hatred sprinkling in her voice.

"We have the best people looking into that as we speak," Declan pointed out. "So far, they haven't been able to find anything, but I've found a lead that is quite promising, and I think you'll feel the same way, dear mother."

His mother started to look at him with satisfaction on her face. "I'm intrigued…as expected," she said.

Declan adjusted his glasses again before facing the screen. "It's in regarding the duelist who first uses these cards," Declan explained, switching the screen to show the woman a background history of Yuya. "His name is Yuya Sakaki. He's a 14-year-old who attends a duel school called the You-Show Duel School in this city. He's in the Junior Arc League class with a score of over 46 duels with 26 wins and 20 losses."

The woman looks at Yuya's record history and it appears to be disappointing because his score was just above average. "A 60%-win rate? So, he's an average duelist then." She looked at her son. "You're not suggesting that someone like him is responsible for pioneering a cutting-edge duel technique."

"Did I mention that he is the son of Yusho Sakaki?" Declan revealed, much to her surprise.

Henrietta's eyes widen at the name. "Yusho Sakaki?!" she gasped. She's heard a great deal about the man. Yusho was responsible for everything that the Leo Corporation had built upon. "The same Yusho Sakaki that vanished three years ago? Are you saying he's back and back to cause us trouble?" she assumed this would be the only possibility that could jeopardize their efforts.

"I don't know, but we must find out," Declan stated. He clicked the screen again to show her a video footage of the tag team duel the other day. "And possibly this one in particular."

Henrietta watches Yasuko's turn and she was rather impressed with her adaptable skills to hold out. "Who's she?" Henrietta asked.

"This one is Yasuko Yukihana, and she's a 15-year-old was just transferred to Maiami Prep about a week ago." He clicked the remote to show his mother the background information of Yasuko. "I've done some research on her, but there was nothing I can't find other than this one." Henrietta could see why Declan wasn't able to find much regarding the new girl in the city.

Yasuko Yukihana had no past affiliation with duel schools, and she didn't seem to have any official duels records in her scoreboard. However, she did enter a tryout for the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games three years ago; however, she didn't pass the entrance course to get in the main tournament event.

Henrietta is truly skeptical with Yasuko. "She participated at the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, but she didn't get in?" she inquired. "That's embarrassing." She turns to Declan for more report. "Are you certain that she didn't participate any _other_ junior class tournaments?"

Declan shook his head. "No. She didn't. There was all I have about her." Based on this record and how she did in this Frontier Games, it's clear that she was doubtful of her.

"So, other than the tag-team duel or her tryout for the Frontier Games, she's just another average duelist then, and yet she beat one of my LDS students?" Henrietta questioned. "Surely someone must've at least taught her how to draw a card."

Declan clicked the remote to show his mother more records of Yasuko. On the screen was the picture of Yasuko and her resident's card. "Apparently, she previously held a resident card that is only acquired to foreigners. It said that she came from Wangkou," Declan explained.

"Wangkou? She's from China?" His mother inquired.

"This is her foster mother." Declan shows Henrietta a picture of a young woman. Like Yasuko, she has short dark hair, but her purple eyes and a fair light skin shows her differences between the woman and Yasuko. "Her name is Chloe Saratoga and she is a permeant resident in Tokyo working as a photographer."

Henrietta turns to her son for more answers. "Is there any way we can do to find out more clues about either of them? This Yuya boy or that Yasuko girl?" Henrietta asked, as her son shook his head.

"We have no other information other than this," Declan explained. "All I know is that there was something else that bothers me." He turns back to his mother. "I feel that there must be more than what they've demonstrated in the tag duel."

"Oh…" said Henrietta.

"A possibility," said Declan. "And I think I may find a way to exploit this even further."

* * *

Yasuko moans at the sound of the alarm clock ringing in her room and on a Saturday. The alarm keeps ringing until Yasuko slaps her hand on the clock to stop the ring. She sits back up with her hair all fuzzy and spawning everywhere. Yawning loudly and rubbing her eyes, Yasuko walks up and grabs her towel to the bathroom.

After a while of showing, she was done washing herself, she walks back to her room. Opening the door back, she slips her usual blue jeans back on along with her black white stripe sweater. Her black jacket vest hangs from the chair next to her desk. Yasuko grabs her Duel Disk and inserts her deck back inside. She places the duel disk into her drop leg holster and grabs her gym bag. She walks out of the room and slides down the stair railings before she enters the kitchen with Diana getting ready for her work.

"Oh, Yasuko, hey," said Diana. "I made you some pancakes on the table. I've got to go and do this run for my boss, so I'll be home late."

"That's fine, Diana," said Yasuko. "I can take care of myself."

"You should be worried about spending too much on your snacks, Yasuko," Diana cautioned. "Your mother is sending in your fees every month for now on, so make sure that you spend them well, okay?"

"Okay," Yasuko nodded.

Diana puts away her apron and turns to grab her keys. "I've made some rice and katsu in the fridge, so you can eat that for dinner," she informed.

"Okay, bye." Yasuko waved at her before she watches Diana leave the door. She takes her fork and grabs the pancakes that Diana made and eats them while thinking about what to do for the day.

* * *

Throughout the bus ride, Yasuko watches the view of buildings pass by when the bus rides her to somewhere to a quiet place. It took some deep sleep and thinking about the You-Show Duel School. Sure Yusho Sakaki created the duel school to entertain the audiences, but there was still something more than just that.

When the bus hissed to a stop, Yasuko exits out of the vehicle and let it roll past her when she could walk on the path by the river.

She thought back to when she first arrived at Maiami City. From Tokyo residents, she heard that this city is the center pillar of Dueling. The gold mine to Dueling. A lot of people like her would join duel schools if they ever had a chance to go there. But this is not the case for Yasuko. Dueling was more likely to be her only way of solving problems.

Yasuko munched onto her nuts and throws the bag away. She walks up the stairs on the hill. Upon arriving, she noticed that there were three people from across the street, leaning over at the window. She recognized the uniform sweaters to be from Maiami Prep Middle School. When she narrows her eyes, she realized that it's Yamabe from the tag-duel and the two other boys from the stadium.

"Hey‼" Yasuko called as she sprints up towards them. They seemed to hear her and when they turned around, Yasuko leaps up and gives Yamabe a hard-double kick to the back. He screamed in pain as she whips her leg upwards and gives the brown-haired boy a roundhouse kick before she swings a fist back to the other boy in the face. They all collapsed down in pain when they saw her.

"OW! Hey, what the hell's that for?!" Yamabe grunted, exclaiming to Yasuko's sudden ambush.

"I was taking a walk when I noticed that you were on the window," Yasuko replied. "What were you doing? Spying to get back at Yuya, or are you going to ambush him like you guys were planning yesterday?" she interrogated them.

The brown-haired boy, Oomoto protested in their defense. "Hey, it was Yuya who ambush us yesterday!" he retorted.

"Yeah, he attacked Sylvio Satawari and left him hospitalized!" the purple brown-haired boy, Kakimoto revealed.

Yasuko wasn't buying it since she left Zuzu alone when she and Allie went to go get Yuya yesterday. This had to be a trap. She narrowed her eyes further to form an almost glare at the three boys in front of her. "That's a lie," she replied.

"No, really, it's true!" said Yamabe. "He really did attack Sylvio and he was sent to the hospital because of him!"

"That's idiotic considering that I was with him the night before he left for Zuzu," Yasuko rebuked.

"Seriously, we're telling the truth here and you just had to butt in to defend him," Kakimoto accused.

"No, I butted in because I hate cowards like you and that idiot who dueled me and Yuya," Yasuko admitted. "He was an idiot to think that he could take those Pendulum cards and gets away with it."

"What did you say!?" Yamabe exclaimed

"How dare you call Sylvio Sawatari an idiot when he's powerful, you fool!?" Kakimoto snapped angrily, causing Yasuko to scoff in disgust, rolling her eyes.

"Please, he got his ass kicked by a girl," Yasuko rebuked. The three boys grew angrier and they seemed to prepare to take her down despite being a girl. "I could see that if you want to take me down," she reached something in her bag and dropped her bag with a three-section staff in her hand, "Then I'm prepared to do it." The three boys were shocked that she has a weapon in her gym bag.

"Hey, where did you get that!?" Ootomo asked, pointing at that weapon.

"From a souvenir store," Yasuko replied.

"Hey, we don't even have a weapon!" Yamabe shouted. "That's not fair!"

Yasuko whips her three-sectioned staff ready to strike. "So, if you want to get me, now is the time," she insisted in a more dangerous, yet calm tone to soothe their tensions.

Before any one of them could go, there was a shout coming from behind them. "STOP THIS NOW‼" All four of them heard that and faced towards a young man with a huge frame, easily equivalent in height to some adults. Yasuko is surprised to see that its the same guy she saw when she first arrived at Maiami City. While he has a round face, he's very stocky built and rather muscular and has black hair styled into a large pompadour restrained by a red band. His nose is somewhat redder than the rest of his face. He is also wearing a Maiami Prep Middle School jacket over a buttoned white coat that has gold trim and white dojo pants. He also wears a white sash crossed over his back, tied at the left shoulder, and big sandals under his foot. There was no way for Yasuko to see that the young man goes to Maiami Prep considering that he looks like a grown-up than a pre-teen boy.

"I won't allow a girl to be harmed by the like of thugs!" the big young man shouted, crossing his arms.

"Uh…who the hell are you?" Yasuko asked the man in front of them.

"I am Gongenzaka Strong, miss, and I will not allow boys and men to be harming a woman or females!" the man, Gongenzaka Strong boomed in his gruffer voice. "Especially these three here."

"Seriously, I am not that weak," Yasuko retorted, irritating. "I just happened to stop by because these fools plan to ambush Yuya and steal his lunch money," she explained what they were doing and that seemed to piss Gongenzaka off.

"WHAT?!" he shouted. "How dare you! Taking out Yuya by surprise without any confrontations, that is cowardly!" Gongenzaka Strong was so angry that Yasuko could see the fire burning in his eyes.

"No, really, that's not the point!" Yamabe defended. "It was Yuya who ambushed us!"

Seeing how easily provoked the man was, Yasuko takes her chance to inflame him even more. "He's lying," she lied. "They were planning on ambushing Yuya, kick his ass, and take his lunch money."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Gongenzaka boomed even louder and seems prepared to join in when the doors opened with the principal, and Yuya running out with shock in their face. "HOW DARE YOU‼! PLANNING TO AMBUSH YUYA TO TAKE HIS LUNCH MONEY! THAT IS UNFORGIVABLE!" Just as his voice boomed loudly, two people ran outside of the school and caught them.

"What the heck's going on out here!?" Zuzu's father called, catching the five's attention.

"Oh, uh, who are you?" Yasuko pointed a finger at Zuzu's father.

"My name is Shuzo Hiiragi! And I am the current principal of this school!" Zuzu's father, Shuzo Hiiragi shouted to clarify his name. "What's been happening?"

Yuya looks at Yasuko by surprise and sees that she has a weapon in her hand. "Yasuko, what are you doing here?" Yuya asked.

"I was walking when I found out that these guys who were planning on ambushing you for beating the Silver guy," Yasuko answered.

"IT'S SYLVIO‼" The three boys chorused. "And we weren't going to ambush you!" Kakimoto added.

"Oh, Principal! I, the manly Gongenzaka was in the middle of duel sprints to temper and harden my legs when I saw these three ruffians picking on this girl!" Gongenzaka explained, pointing at Yasuko.

"Don't get me wrong, but they were planning on taking Yuya down," Yasuko clarified, adding more to the situation.

"They accused Yuya of hurting Sylvio in a duel," Gongenzaka added.

Yuya and Shuzo were completely shocked by this explanation. Both mouths dropped open upon hearing all that.

"Yuya?!" Shuzo gasped.

"Me?!" Yuya gasped too.

"That's right! And don't lie!" Kakimoto sneered.

"We were there, and we saw you with our own eyes!" Ootomo added along.

"There were four, no five people who saw you!" The third finished.

"That's a lie," Yasuko accused. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't bash your skulls right now." Yasuko raised her three-section staff to show force for the three boys. "And what do you mean, five?"

"Sawatari and us were there! And so was she!" Yamabe sneered, causing Yasuko, Yuya, Shuzo, and Gongenzaka to all turn and see Zuzu coming out with the three kids and Sora.

"Come on, don't deny it, you know that it is true?" The three boys all taunted together, making creepy faces to the girl as she hesitated to answer.

Yasuko lowers her three-section staff down to see the look on Zuzu's face. She looked uncertain, hesitate to answer the truth about what occurred yesterday since she left her to be with Sylvio. At that, Shuzo and Gongenzaka began to question the girl whether if it was true or not.

"There's crazy, Zuzu, right? They're makin' this all up, or aren't they?" Gongenzaka inquired.

"Zuzu, what did you see?" Shuzo asked along, only for the Ootomo to answer for her.

"The perpetrator's face!" he scoffed.

"She saw the face of Yuya Sakaki, who attacked Sylvio Sawatari, son of Maiami City's next mayor!" Kakimoto explained as he and the other two pointed directly at Yuya.

"Don't lie!" Tate snapped angrily. He, Frederick, and Allie got in front of Yuya, defending them from the triple accusations. "Yuya would never do such a thing!" Tate snapped in assurance.

"It was Sawatari who was going to attack him! Zuzu planned to stop him by giving him a piece of her mind in a duel!" Allie snapped too.

Yasuko frowned at the arguments, sighing in defeat that there is no clarification to Yuya's innocence. "This is getting nowhere..., I do know for certain that Yuya didn't attack that idiot, because, during that time, I was with him." Yasuko then looked at the three boys. "You clearly have no other evidence that Yuya attacked Sawatari!" Yasuko snapped, earning him glares from the three students. "And if he did, then I guess that clown would've been smacked twice in the head already."

"What!? Take that back about Sylvio Sawatari!" Ootomo demanded.

"Bite me," Yasuko snapped back. "Because it's the truth! Why should we believe all your stupid lies when I can just bash your skull with this already?" Yasuko brandishes her three-section staff and was prepared to attack, but Yuya suddenly ran towards her to put a hand on her shoulder to soothe the girl.

"No, Yasuko, please! There's no need to be violent about this!" Yuya assured. "But the last time we saw each other was the time when you pointed me to the port where Sylvio and Zuzu are."

Yasuko sighed, no hope of arguing with Yuya for the crimes that he could've committed. "You're right, there's no hope of arguing with these idiots." The three all gritted their teeth while Shuzo remained confused about the situation.

"W-Wait a second... Zuzu was the one who dueled? Not Yuya?" Shuzo asked.

"Yeah!" Allie agreed.

"And her opponent was...?" Shuzo asked again, with Allie answering it again.

"Sylvio!" Allie responded back.

"But that means... The one that ambushed them was Zuzu!?" Shuzo exclaimed in shock, much to Yasuko's dismay.

She sighed very heavily, knowing that there's no way she could defend or argue about this. "Argh... No... That's not the point here..." Yasuko groaned.

"Wrong!" Tate, Allie, and Frederick snapped as the three LDS students sighed in annoyance.

"We keep telling you it was Yuya Sakaki!" Ootomo sighed.

"He attacked Sylvio from out of nowhere," Kakimoto claimed, with Yamabe sighing.

"Poor Sylvio Sawatari... He's in the hospital with some serious injuries..." Sylvio explained sadly, causing Yuya and Zuzu to gasp.

"The hospital!?" Yuya panicked.

"No way..." Zuzu said out in shock.

"His injuries might be life-threatening... If anything happens to Sawatari-san, you'll be held responsible!" Ootomo snapped angrily.

"R-Responsible...? But... But I..." Yuya stammered, not knowing what to say until he ran up to Zuzu, trying to get her to convince the three about her answer. "Hey! Say something, Zuzu!" Yuya pleaded. The girl blinked as her childhood friend tried to plead with her. "You saw everything, right!?" Yuya shouted.

"I-I did see, but..." Zuzu started. Zuzu began to stammer on her words, not knowing what to think about or say until she finally stopped.

"No way... Zuzu, you also think I might've done it!?" Yuya panicked.

"That's...!" Zuzu started until the Yasuko interfered with their conversation.

"If you're going to that Yuya did it, then say it," Yasuko suggested. "Yuya might've been there when we last saw each other," she assumed, causing Zuzu to widen her eyes at her.

"No Yasuko...! That's not..." Zuzu started, as the girl stopped her again.

"Then what were you going to say?" Yasuko asked. "Cause if you're not gonna say it, then I might as well dispatch the three idiots here and Yuya too."

This caused Yuya to look completely compelled by her words and stomped in front of her to protest. "I said no violence‼" Yuya shouted but pause there when she said the last part of the sentence that made him realize. "Wait a minute. What do you mean 'dispatch me'?"

"That's... I... I..." Zuzu stuttered, but she has no words of saying this because whatever she saw yesterday last night had to be true. Seeing that Zuzu doesn't have words to describe the incident, the LDS students smirked at Yuya's incoming peril.

"Should something happen to Sawatari, naturally, the police would arrest you," The first one taunted, causing Shuzo to panic.

"P-Police!?" Shuzo panicked before he heard police sirens passing by, causing him to feel confused and frighten over the incident. "Kids, please, explain to me what's going on! From the top!" Shuzo requested. "And don't forget to lose some change in your pockets now‼" Everyone sighed at the principal's misunderstanding.

"Perhaps, I can be some of assistances." A woman's voice rose, catching everyone's attention. Yasuko saw a limo had arrived when they were arguing. A woman came out of the limo. She looked like a serious and fancy woman, considering her magenta suit and hair that is curled up.

"Hey, I know you‼!" Shuzo gasped.

"Who is she?" Yasuko inquired.

"Greetings, I am Henrietta Akaba, the chairwoman of the board of directors and the Leo Institute of Dueling," the woman, Henrietta introduces to the rest of the people in front of her.

"Akaba?" Yasuko inquired, hearing that surname before she came here. She then came to realize that name belonged to the name of the most powerful duel corporation in the world. "Are you saying that you are the principal?" she assumed that if she is the head of the Leo Institute, then she must assume that she is also the head of the corporation that produces dueling.

Henrietta looks at Yasuko with a cool professional face. "Of course, I am the principal," Henrietta corrected. Yasuko looked at her eyes and shrugged. She puts her three-section staff away in her gym bag, knowing that with the chairwoman of the most powerful institute and a sponsor from a very powerful corporation being here means violence can't achieve anything.

* * *

Everyone headed back to the main lobby of You Show Duel School, where Henrietta talked about the incident that Sawatari's friends were talking about earlier. All the children stand behind the Shuzo, who was sitting in front of Henrietta.

"Thank you for having me," said Henrietta.

"It was my pleasure," Shuzo replied.

"I only wished it was under better circumstances, but I'm afraid that we must deal with the facts and the fact is everything the boys said is true. One of our LDS students, Sylvio Sawatari testified that he was attacked, and the perpetrator was none other than Yuya Sakaki, who attends your You-Show Duel School," Henrietta explained. "And now, we must figure out a way to make things right."

Yasuko stands behind Shuzo while listening in to the conversation with all the students in the room. She could see how his hands tighten at the explanation, looking down regretfully. "Yuya, for the last time, did you, or did you not do it?" Shuzo interrogated Yuya, who was standing on his left.

"No, I didn't do it! I would never do such a thing!" Yuya answered loudly, making sure it was enough for everyone to hear. He completely denied everything about the act that he was the assaulter. "Why does no one believe in me?"

"Not so fast there, Yuya," Gongenzaka assured. "Gong does, now do you?" Gongenzaka turns to the three kids around them.

"We're with you‼" Frederick agreed, along with Tate and Allie, who were both on the same terms.

Gongenzaka nodded before he turned to face Zuzu in the eye. "And you?" he asked.

Zuzu looked hesitate as she turned to Gongenzaka, girl to blink in surprise before she hesitated in her answer once more. "Yuya!" Zuzu called, catching her childhood friend's attention. "I know what my eyes saw on the other day." Zuzu declared, annoying Yasuko that she slammed her hands on the table.

"For the love of god, just out with it!" Yasuko shouted. "If you're trying to say that Yuya was the one who did it, then just out with it!" Yasuko snapped angrily, scaring Zuzu even more.

"No! That's not what I'm trying to say...!" Yuzu denied.

"Then what were you going to say, that Yuya is convicted of the crime that he did or did not commit?!" Yasuko argued with Zuzu. She hates stuff like this; people always confusing on their witness accountability.

"No! I…" Zuzu paused right there, seeing that she can't have words to describe what she saw yesterday. "I know that my eyes don't deceive me but looks can be deceiving." That was all Zuzu could say because she is conflicted between the looks from Yuya and the stranger from yesterday. Seeing how confused she is, Yuya steps in this time to declare his words.

"I don't know what Zuzu saw, but if she thinks that I did attack Sawatari, then she should just say it from the heart," Yuya assured, causing her to blink in surprise. She has never seen Yuya being this noble before in her life before she smiled lightly.

"Then my heart says that I believe you too, Yuya," Zuzu replied.

Yuya smiled along with everyone else, they had high hopes of Yuya's innocence, but Yasuko interrupted the proud moment with two words. "That's bullshit."

Everybody in the room looked completely shocked at Yasuko's declaration. Not only was she defending Yuya, but she was accusing him. Mouths dropping and frozen in surprise. Nobody expected Yasuko to change sides in the last minute Zuzu declared her accountability. Henrietta looks at her with interest that she was, at first, on their side, only to changed sides after Zuzu made her decision about

"Hey, Yasuko what does that mean?!" Yuya protested, raising both hands to show his dismay. "And watch your language, there are kids here!"

"I'm saying that's BS in my opinion on her accountability," Yasuko stated, causing Zuzu to flare up in anger.

"That's not very helpful!" she retorted. "Whose side are you on?!"

Yasuko looked at her with the same deadpanned face and said, "I am on the side with the most accountability." She turned to Henrietta. "Those boys and Sawatari are your alibi, right?" Yasuko asked Henrietta about the evidence that was revealed earlier.

"Of course, I have three witnesses that fine Yuya to be guilty," Henrietta admitted.

"If Yuya did attack Sylvio, what was the exact time of the incident?" Yasuko asked.

Yuya cuts right in and protests to her. "Yasuko, you know it wasn't me!" he defended. "I remember that you were there last night when you give me the location of the port."

Yasuko glanced over her shoulder to look at the boy. "I didn't ask you, clown boy, so just stands there and gawk at me like an idiot if you want," she retorted. "This is about the evidence and the truth." After that she got Yuya to stay silent as Yasuko goes back to interrogate the woman. "As I was saying, when was this?" she asked her seriously.

"The time of the incident occurs at 19:44 hrs," Henrietta answered. "Why you asked?"

"Because yesterday, my last bus schedule was at 19:30 hrs, and by the time I got to You-Show, Yuya was there." Yasuko pulls out her duel disk and types down the city buses' transport schedule. "I've memorized the bus schedules around this city so that I can move to somewhere." She slides her disk to show it to Henrietta. She takes a looked at it, but the woman was still unconvinced.

"If I may, but if Yuya did attack Sylvio, how was he sent to the hospital?" she asked.

Henrietta puts the duel disk down on the table and looked straight in the eyes of the same demeanor she always bears. "He said that Yuya challenged him to a duel," Henrietta revealed. "He also said that he performed a Xyz Summon."

Yasuko raised an eyebrow, intrigued to see this additional information. "Xyz Summon?" Yasuko repeated. "You don't think that this slack job idiot could actually perform a Xyz Summon, would you?" Yasuko jabbed her thumb to Yuya, who looked offended by her comment.

"Hey!" Yuya exclaimed.

Henrietta looks cautiously at Yuya for any exact attributes that could make him be able to perform an advance Summoning method. Based on what she was seeing, Yasuko was telling the truth about Yuya's abilities. "Of course not," Henrietta admitted, "In the Leo Institute, the Xyz course is one of the advanced courses in our school and his duel score ratio was a 50/50."

"50/50…" Yasuko said lowly. She could not believe what she has heard from the woman about Yuya's win ratio. Yasuko slowly glanced over her shoulder to Yuya. From his point of view, he could see that there was a glint in her eye that said, "What the hell?" He sweated with nervousness from how Yasuko was looking at him considering that Henrietta just revealed his score ratio in his duels.

"So, that means I've dueled with an amateur," Yasuko assumed before saying, "You're the worst."

Veins popped from Yuya's head that shows how angry he is to Yasuko's insult. "Geez, thanks for the compliment!" he hissed.

"He would never master the components to a Xyz summon, in which he isn't qualified to do," said Yasuko. "So, therefore, it must be an impostor who was jealous of Yuya's ability to Pendulum Summon, so he must've taken makeup to disguise himself."

"Imposter or not, nothing changes." Henrietta excuses everything Yasuko had to conjure for their defense. "The fact remains that two of my best LDS students are beaten by two amateurs who can't cooperate as a tag-team. If rumors found out about the tag team duel, then it would ruin the reputation of the Leo Institute of Dueling, the top duel school in the entire world."

"So…you're saying that Yuya is getting punished because he schooled your students." Yasuko assumed, but Henrietta added more, "It's not just Yuya, but you've also humiliated the Leo Institute by demanding a tag team duel and, how do you kids say it without making improper language…kicked their butts."

"Oh…so now, I'm getting punished too?" Yasuko said bluntly. She pondered for a moment and turned to Yuya, replying, "You really are the worst, Yuya."

"That was all on you!" Yuya growled in annoyance and anger at the same time.

"But, lady," Yasuko said deadpanned, catching Henrietta's attention again. "Two of your students, Sylvio Sawatari and the other both lost against in a tag team duel against two strangers. Honestly, I think you need to amp your teaching methods a little more."

Henrietta glints her eyes at her. "I may prove to you that everything the Leo Institute has to offer is high quality and high expectations for young duelist like yourself," said Henrietta. "But right now, this is about retribution."

Yasuko blinked once out of confusion as Henrietta stood up, angered about the loss that had been from one of her students of Leo Duel School. "The problem is that LDS' appearance has been ruined!" Henrietta declared angrily. "Now, it's personally about honor that we shall bring back to the school by having our schools fight with one another!" Henrietta declared the only solution to the problem, causing Shuzo to be stiffened in shock.

"A... dueling contest!?" Shuzo gaped in shock. Yuya, and Zuzu were all shocked to hear this declaration, while Yasuko and Sora, on the other hand, seemed amused by the contest idea.

Henrietta sits back down as she looks at the Shuzo to suggest her choice to wager. "If your school wins, then we'll overlook Yuya's incident," Henrietta suggested. "But, if we should win instead... then effective immediately, the Leo Institute shall take over the You Show Duel School."

From Henrietta's declaration, this had shocked both Yuya and Zuzu in the process.

"What did you say!?" Yuya gasped.

"No way!" Yuzu gasped along.

Gongenzaka steps forward and glares at the head woman of the Leo Institute. "Now how does that restore honor by taking it over?" he questioned. "That sounds fishing if you ask me."

Shuzo frowned at the chairman, making his fact about LDS' supreme reign over the other schools true to the other students. "Yes, I agree," said Shuzo. "Since I heard of how the Leo Institute's been aggressively expanding across the globe. You've been taking duel schools from left and right, and not in the nicest way." Henrietta smiled gently, seeing that Shuzo is putting the pieces together for one confirmation. "Tell me, did you set this up just, so you can take over the school?"

"No, I did not," Henrietta replied. "But I happen to be an opportunist, so when I see an opportunity such as this, I can't resist. You see, there are three ultimate summoning methods. Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz. But it's come to my attention that now there is a four pillar of a summoning method. Pendulum. As it is right now, I don't see why or how your school was the only school that has a connection to it. Isn't it being wasted as long as it remains in your hands, Principal Hiiragi?" Shuzo looked conflicted as the head of the Leo Institute goes on about Pendulum Summon.

"With the technological resources of the Leo Corporation, it would positively flourish why there's no telling what kind of maneuvers it could come out of it." Henrietta turned to Yasuko for her answer. "Doesn't that excite you?"

Yasuko narrowed her eyes in suspicions about the woman's intent for the use of Pendulum Summon. "So, what are you saying...?" Yasuko asked. "Are you telling me that the Leo Institute should be the _only_ school to have Pendulum Summon instead of You-Show?" Her eyes narrowed further down to resemble a glare. "What kind of people takes away a school's special technique when you can just call in an elective course?"

"It's called business, darling," Henrietta answered.

"I call it survival of the fittest," Yasuko replied harshly. "You cannot just come into another school and buy them in dollar bills."

Henrietta narrowed her eyes in annoyance at the duelist who had humiliated her students at the Leo Institute. This was something she couldn't just ignore at all. "How ridiculous... Pendulum Summon is a brand-new technique that numerous duelists admire, and they admired Yuya. They would like to use Pendulum, too. Wouldn't you kids agree?" Henrietta asked, turning to Tate Frederick, and Allie, as the three got unsure about her decision.

"Y-Yeah, but we can't do Pendulum Summon without Yuya's Pendulum Cards." Tatsuya reminded.

"With the power of Leo Corporation, creating them will be a simple task," Henrietta assured. "That is precisely why it would serve our schools best to merge," she said with a small smile on her face.

Yasuko doesn't seem to be convinced about this woman's intent to do with Pendulum Summon. "Can you even do it?" Yasuko asked. "Make Pendulum Cards?"

"In the Leo Corporation, we can make endless possibilities," Henrietta smiled. "I'm sure that we can make a solution," she smirked, making a thought about Yuya as she gave a glance at him.

" _And the solution is obvious. Once we join as one, I can take Yuya's deck,"_ Henrietta thought carefully, " _then, I'll get to the bottom of this Pendulum business. A more thorough investigation into what exactly Yuya Sakaki is. Is he a friend? Or is he foe?_ " Before she could finish her thoughts, Yasuko made another suggestion over to Henrietta's plan for Pendulum Summon.

"Time out woman," she said. "Yuya was the one who discovered Pendulum Summon, right? And the Leo Institute did nothing of the sort to create a new summoning method; yet, you're here to steal that method from the school." Her eyebrows furrowed to form a frown. "Chairwoman Akaba, from what I can see, this has got to be the _stupidest_ idea to use some kid's incident as an excuse to invest your benefits."

Henrietta looked at the girl with the same cool-headed attitude she used. "Why is that? You're not even a student at the You-Show Duel School." Henrietta pointed out.

Yasuko was hit hard on that comment. It may be true that she doesn't go to You Show but based on what she has seen with this school, then it maybe it's worth something out of their experience.

"I may not be their student here, but I do know that You-Show was created not for the glory of being the strongest or the entertainment, but something more." Yasuko puts her words carefully to describe what she knows about the school. "And I think it's fair that they should keep their independence and the summoning method." Yasuko declared. "Pendulum Summon was founded by a student of You-Show, and it is their right to keep their school and that Pendulum Summon."

"Yasuko's right!" Yuya burst out. "You treat duels like it was business!" Yasuko glanced over her shoulder to see Yuya holding onto his pendant. "But in here, we treat duels like it was show business. Don't you see, that is when dueling is at its most powerful! When it's used to make people happy, not when it's used to push people to make some big shot school even bigger!" Yuya declared. "Duels aren't meant to be used as tools for fights! But I won't let anyone else steal away the You-Show Duel School or the Pendulum Summon!"

Yasuko looked surprised by his determination. Nobody would go so far to protect something they cherish the most and Yuya cherishes his school and his Pendulum Summon. She can't seem to argue with him over that philosophy.

"Atta boy, Yuya!" Gongenzaka placed a hand on Yuya's shoulder. "Gongenzaka feels the same way as you do!" he puts a fist on his heart to show his dedication to his friend. "And because he does, Gongenzaka volunteering to face off in the match as well!"

"But you're an outsider, aren't you?" Sora asked, causing Gongenzaka to gasp and pale with white all over him. "We'd be disqualified because Gongenzaka doesn't go to You-Show and she said that only students would have to duel," Sora turned to Henrietta and Shuzo, "so you can totally forget the big guy there and if we're talking multiple duels, then talk to me."

"Wait‼" Gongenzaka bellowed angrily. "Did you say totally forget about Gonenzaka?! That is totally unacceptable‼!" Zuzu and the children felt scared from his reaction, but Yasuko sweat dropped out of confusion. "Gongenzaka needs to duel, and Gongenzaka needs to duel now!"

"Seriously? What's with these people?" asked Yasuko irritated.

"It seems that your students agreed to my terms, but what says you?" Henrietta commented, asking Shuzo and the others about their decision.

"What I say madam chairwoman is that you got a deal," Shuzo declared. Almost everyone in the room faced Henrietta with the same resolve to stop their takeover. "We won't give you our Duel School‼" Everyone said altogether, except for Yasuko, who was still reluctant to answer.

Henrietta sighed in defeat with the talk before she made her decision. "Then... Shall we get started?" Henrietta asked.

* * *

Yasuko leaves herself out of this match since this will be a three-on-three duels between the Leo Institute and the You-Show. She and the three kids along with Gongenzaka stand at the observation room while the Leo Institute brought over three students from their school.

Yasuko crosses her arms to examine the opponents from all three of the summoning courses. "So, those must be the top tier-one duelists in the Leo Institute, huh?" she inquired before she turned to Tate for more information about the duelists standing in front of You Show. "Hey, kid, what can you tell me about the first guy?" she asked about the first boy who stands in front of Yuya.

"The one on the left is Hokuto O'Rion and he's from the Xyz course," Tate revealed about the boy with purple hair that has a gold pin in the shape of the Big Dipper asterism, and blue eyes. He was looking on his duel disk for more information. When he received the details about Hokuto, the results shocked all the kids.

"No way‼" Allie gasped. "This guy's practically a pro!"

"He won 53 of 58 matches!?" Frederick shrieked in shock.

"He's got a win ratio over 90%!" Tate gulped.

Yasuko takes Tate's duel disk to see the match results that Hokuto had done during the Junior Youth Championship. "How impressive," said Yasuko.

"He participated in the Junior Youth Championship, far exceeded expectations, and got the spotlight!" Frederick added in amazement.

"Not only is he a participant this year, but he seems to be one of the tournament's favorites!" Allie explained, causing Tate and Frederick to look at the Xyz duelist, all feeling a bit frightened by his winning streak and his presence. "His records are off the charts!" Allie looked concern about Yuya's opponent to be a specialist in the Xyz course.

"Don't let that hope die just yet," Yasuko denied, giving Tate his duel disk back and looked at Hokuto with a blank facial expression. "This is only the beginning of what You Show can do…and I have faith that the duel may be just as intriguing as I thought."

Shuzo walked over to Yuya to give him some advice. "There's no need to be scared, just because he's an 'ace', or a 'tournament's favorite'! Show them your strength, Yuya! Get your hot-blooded boiling!" Shuzo exclaimed, encouraging Yuya even more that he copied his principal's determination and stance.

"YEAH!" Yuya yelled, causing Yasuko to sweat drop at the burning determination from Yuya.

"Why do I get a bad feeling about this...?" Yasuko asked herself.

Everyone, except Yuya and Hokuto, was at the waiting room, all watching to see a duel between Pendulum and Xyz to begin. Shuzo took control of the Solid Vision system as the two duelists were ready to fight.

"Our school can handle any situation they come across. Now, shall we start, Principal Hiiragi?" Henrietta asked.

"Oh yeah… and you can handle any situation, you say!? Then, how about this!? Action Field, on! Field Spell, Cosmo Sanctuary! Activate!" Shuzo yelled as he activated a space field looking Field Spell. The field changed into **Cosmo Sanctuary**. The field changed the scenery to show a ruined temple floating in the middle of space with the cosmos and start gleaming brightly.

"Obtain the power of the stars, and fight! Yuya!" Shuzo cheered. As the Principal said this, Hokuto begins to laugh at the Field Spell.

"Pfft... Ah ha ha ha ha! Of all the things, you actually selected the one Field that's best suited for me!" Hokuto taunted.

"SAY WHAT!?" Shuzo gasped as both Yasuko and Sora sighed in disappointment.

"If you took a minute to think about the name "Hokuto," it means the Big Dipper," Sora sighed.

"Seriously? You just picked a field that gives your enemy the advantage... man you're even more idiotic than Yuya," Yasuko commented, causing Shuzo to pale in white and shriek in despair.

Yuya, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered as he activated his Duel Disk to prepare for his first duel for his Duel School. "I'm definitely... going to win this duel! I'll win... and I'll protect You Show Duel School, and my dad's dueling!" Yuya promised, feeling determined for victory.

"Yuya... Be careful," Zuzu whispered.

Allie then began to say the chant, "Powerful duelists have gathered within this celestial temple of battle…"

Frederick then came up next to her and held out his arm, "They'll kick up dirt as they ride along with their monsters…"

Tate then came up to Allie's other side, "As they ride across the field!" Then all three of them said together while they were smiling, "Action…"

"DUEL!" Yuya and Hokuto then yelled at the same time.

"Let the Exoneration Duel begin…" Yasuko declared, keeping her eyes on the two duelists, never removing them for she wants to see the powers of Xyz summon.

* * *

 **Okay, for this part, it'll be divided into three parts before the second duel and a bit shorter than the rest because I know if you've already watched teh anime series, then you get the point, I just want to make it as a canon for the character, anyways, I hope you've enjoyed reading this far if you have already. Nothing much going on until the real duel comes, so stay tune for more.**


	9. Chapter 9: The Exoneration Duel Part 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 9: The Exoneration Duel Part 1_

* * *

 **Yuya: LP 4000 (5x cards)**

 **VS**

 **Hokuto: LP 4000 (5x cards)**

The duel between You Show and the Leo Institute begins with Yuya and Hokuto dueling against each other as first representatives of their respective schools.

"Bring it on, Hokuto!" Yuya declared. "I'm ready for your very best!" His opponent, Hokuto O'Rion smirked amusingly at Yuya's determination.

From the spectator's room, everyone from the Leo Institute and You Show Duel school, plus Yasuko and Gongenzaka, both watched how fired up Yuya is compared to Hokuto's relaxed attitude.

"How courageous, Yuya's quite sure of himself," said Henrietta. "Now we shall get to see if he's right to be…" She watched cautiously at the opponent as Henrietta calls out to her student. "Proceed, Hokuto! Give Yuya a celestial smackdown!"

"Understood, madam chairwoman," Hokuto complied.

 **Turn 1: Hokuto (5x Cards)**

"It's my turn!" Hokuto declared. "I'll be taking the first turn! I summon Constellar Algiedi." he declared. Hokuto Normal Summons **Constellar Algiedi (ATK 1600/DEF 1400).** From his field, a female knight emerged from the portal and stood tall in front of Hokuto.

"What makes this star stunner makes this monster so special? When this card is successfully summoned, I can Special Summon a Level 4 or lower card with the name "Constellar" from my hand! So, come on out, I Special Summon Constellar Kaus!" Hokuto declared. Thanks to Algiedi's special effect, Hokuto Special Summons **Constellar Kaus (ATK 1800/DEF 1700).** This monster appears to be a knight armored centaur with a bow and star arrow in his hand.

"And Constellar Kaus' special ability activates! Twice per turn, this card can raise the Level of a card by 1! I use one of them to raise Algiedi's Level by 1!" Kaus fired a blue arrow in the sky and turned to light, which rained on Algiedi.

 **(Constellar Algiedi: LV 4** → **5)**.

"And I use the second shot; I think I shall raise Kaus' Level by 1!" Hokuto declared. At the call, Constellar Kaus fired another arrow which turned to rain light dropping on itself.

 **(Constellar Kaus: LV 4** → **5)**

"Now, do you know what I'm gonna do?" Hokuto asked.

"He's gonna Xyz summon," Yasuko answered, frowning at the tough situation his Pendulum user friend is in.

"I Overlay my Level 5 Constellar Algiedi and Level 5 Constellar Kaus to build the Overlay Network!" With Hokuto's declaration, both Algiedi and Kaus were enveloped by yellow lights and flew into a yellow cosmic portal, which opened on the ground. When they did, a column of blue lightning emerged, as a new monster was about to be summoned, while surprising the You Show students, Gongenzaka, and Shuzo at the same time. Yasuko remained cool-headed while Sora seems to be ticked at the sight of the Xyz summon.

" _Light of the stars, come descend and shake this very earth! I_ _ **Xyz Summon**_ _! Rank 5! Constellar Pleiades!"_ Hokuto chanted, and Xyz summons **Constellar Pleiades (ATK 2500/DEF 1500** _)._ He swiftly swipes a card from his Extra Deck section and slams it on the blade. From the moment Hokuto slapped the Xyz monster onto his sword, a tall stellar figure emerged from the smog with a twin blade in its hand and capes that matched the stars around it.

Yuya looked shocked at the scene before him. "Th-that is… he did a Xyz," said Yuya.

"What's a Rank?" Tate inquired, remembering Hokuto's chant about the use of Rank. "Doesn't he mean level?"

"What? You don't know that much?" Sora said in little surprise, causing the three kids turn to him. "Let me take your thinking to a whole new level," Sora smirked as he began a small lecture about the summoning method. "Xyz Summon happened when you have multiple monsters of the same Level, and that allows you to Special Summon a monster from your Extra Deck. Then they change into a Xyz Monster which possesses the Rank equivalent to their Level," Sora explained.

"Then, what are those lights orbiting around it?" Allie asked, pointing at two lights swirling around the Xyz monsters.

"Those orbiting lights are called Overlay Units," Yasuko suddenly cuts right in to add more details for Sora. "Xyz Monsters are required to have those lights to activate their special effects," she explained, causing everyone to turn to her in surprise. "Depending on the number of monsters you overlay gives you the number of Overlay Units. You can use them once per turn or more depending on the monster's effect."

Sora raises an eyebrow of interest regarding Yasuko's knowledge to Xyz Summon. "Hm...? How do you know that, Yasuko?" he questioned intrigued.

At the question, Yasuko shrugged. "I don't know, I guess I just do," she answered. Yasuko dismissed any details about how she knows Xyz and focus back on the duel. The kids and Sora were all impressed with Yasuko. She seems to know Xyz Summon.

"And now…I end my turn…" Hokuto sighed, concluding his turn since he cannot attack with his Xyz monster on the field.

 **Turn 2: Yuya (5x Cards)**

" _Guess now we'll find out if Yuya is the duelist everyone making out he really is…"_ Henrietta thought of Yuya when Hokuto makes his Xyz summon. " _Or if he's just a dud…"_

"Okay! I draw!" Yuya draws a card from his deck. He places the card in his hand and takes out two signature pendulum cards. "I'll set the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!" Yuya declared. "I'm taking control of this duel starting now!" Yuya activates his **Stargazer Magician** **(Scale 1** **)** and **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8** **)** in his Pendulum Zones. He then set Stargazer at the very right and Timegazer at the very left with the flashing 'PENDULUM' across the blade. As all his previous Pendulum Summon, Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians float above Yuya from the two pillars with the scale number below them.

"With this I can summon monsters within Levels two to seven simultaneously!" Yuya declared with everyone watching.

 _"Sway, Pendulum of the Soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether!_ ** _Pendulum Summon_** _!_ _come forth, my monster servants!"_ Yuya declared. "It's time to swing into action!" From the portal came down a flash of lights before two monsters appearing in front of Yuya, **Performapal Sword Fish (ATK 600/DEF 600)** , and **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**!

"Take the stage, Performapal Sword Fish!" Yuya exclaimed. "And Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Yasuko looked at the dragon again and never minded everything else. She grew fascinated with the dichromatic red dragon again like back at the Leo Stadium.

"There it is!" Allie exclaimed happily.

"The shivers!" said Frederick, shaking his body in excitement.

"So…this is Pendulum Summon?" Henrietta inquired. "My…what a fascinating technique."

Hokuto narrows his eyes on the Pendulum monsters. "So, this is the new dueling technique I've heard about?" he questioned. "But why didn't you use Xyz summoning?" Hokuto looked disappointed that his opponent doesn't use Xyz summon and instead Pendulum Summons.

"I've already told you! I didn't attack Sawatari!" Yuya protested. "I never even use Xyz summoning before in my life."

Yasuko's ears perked up, listening to his sentence. She heard his sentencing saying that Yuya had never conquered Xyz summoning. "Never…Xyz summoned before?" she whispered.

"Okay then, Yuya," said Hokuto. "Either way, you're still not a challenge for me." He then pointed a finger at Yuya with such arrogance in his voice. "Let me put this a blunt: You will lose."

Yuya gritted his teeth in anger as he makes his first move. "I activate my Swordfish's special ability!" Yuya declared. The Swordfish divided itself into multiple copies before they all beamed out towards Pleiades. "Once per turn, I can slice and dice one of your monsters on the field by 600 ATK points." The copies of Sword Fish all land around Pleiades, creating a static pillar to decrease its ATK.

 **(Constellar Pleiades: ATK 2500** → **1900)**

"ALRIGHT‼" Gongenzaka cheered. "With Odd Eyes attack points higher than Pleiades, he has the advantage!"

"That's right!" Yuya beamed as he jumps onto his dragon for a ride. "And because it does, I can get to attack Pleiades with Odd Eyes!" Yuya's red dragon charges towards the stellar monster. The dragon makes one big leap to be above Pleiades.

"Seriously, like I did not see that coming," Hokuto commented. "I activate Pleiades' special ability! By detaching one Overlay unit, one card from the fields gets returned to the hand that it came from!" From Hokuto's call, the warrior monster grabs onto the orbiting light and crushes it to activate the ability. "And the card that I choose Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Odd-Eyes started to glow from the bright light before it disappears into tiny particles. Yuya loses his footwork and falls to the ground with a hard thud.

"Yuya‼" Zuzu calls out of concern.

Yuya was resilient to get back on his feet while rubbing his back. "That's smart!" Yuya grunted.

"Looks like the star attraction became a stage fright," Hokuto commented. "I know what move you'd make."

"The same goes for you…" Sora said quietly.

"Now what, Yuya?" Hokuto inquired.

"Now…I'm in trouble…" Yuya admits as he held onto Swordfish like it was a real sword. "Now that I don't have Odd-Eyes, I don't have any monster to attack Pleiades."

From the sky above, the shooting stars came raining down in the sky. Yuya looked over his shoulder and saw a star landing on something from the temple that emits a bright glow. "Unless…" said Yuya. He then noticed a shining light making contact into an old pillared structure and ran towards it.

"Going somewhere?" Hokuto was starting to tease Yuya. Yasuko finds this suspicious with the opponent now that he's getting onto something. Yuya was getting close to the pillared structure where there may be an Action Card. He carefully steps on the floating stepping from the gap before running up the stairs. Before he can get to the stairs, he was suddenly cut off by a large boom that exploded in front of him. He covers himself and sees that it was Constellar Pleiades blocking his path.

"Hm. Hm. Hm," Hokuto begins to chuckle. "Let me guess, _Yuya_." Hokuto, who was standing behind Pleiades holds out an Action Card in his finger. "You were looking for this, now were you?"

"No way!" Yuya gasped. "How'd you have it already?"

"This field gives me the home advantage," Hokuto revealed. "I know everything about this field and Action Cards, so you don't stand a chance." Yuya gritted his teeth with frustration. He never dueled someone who has knowledge of the entire field and turns around to run to another structure where another shooting star came down on to it. Like before, the Xyz monster got in the way again with Hokuto walking towards Yuya.

"See, it's pointless," said Hokuto amuseingly.

"Shit," Yuya cursed.

From the observation room, the audience was getting anxious with the opponent knowing which location the Action Cards might be and the possibility that he has wholly caught Yuya in the string.

"Gongenzaka sure is mad," said the big man. "He knows and read every move he makes."

"I don't know…" said Zuzu. "It's like we're playing right into the chairwoman's hands."

Yasuko remained silent, watching the duel between Hokuto and Yuya growing intense. She glares at the stubborn Xyz duelist who holds no regards for his opponents.

Meanwhile, Shuzo tried to encourage his student to win despite the disadvantage. "Yuya! Please forgive me! B-but keep burning! Keep your soul burning!" Shuzo yelled from the control room desperately. "But I'm sorry!" He clapped his hands together, apologizing for his foolish choices of the Field.

"He can sob his sorry in a sack," Hokuto commented. "The bottom line is; I never lost on this field, and I don't plan on stopping now. Especially to a second-rate Duel school flunky like you…" he taunted, causing Yasuko to twitch her eyebrows in anger over his taunting to Yuya.

"And you're one word from being dead if you don't shut up…" Yasuko muttered.

"Yeah, we'll see about that." Yuya draws a card from his hand. I place a card face-down and end my turn." Yuya concluded before he sets a face-down.

 **Turn 3: Hokuto (4x cards)**

"Then you know what that means?" Hokuto inquired before continuing, "Your fish's ability ends, and my Pleiades' ATK points returns to normal."

 **(Constellar Pleiades: ATK 1900** → **2500)**

"So much for Yuya being the big thing," Henrietta commented.

"Your pendulum summoning is nothing compared to my Xyz summoning." Hokuto taunted. "I've won over forty matches since I've mastered Xyz summon. And that'll be my forty-first." Yuya was starting to get angry with the Xyz summoner. "Now then…" Hokuto draws a card from his deck. "It's my turn!" Hokuto then points at Yuya. "First, Constellar Pleiades attacks Performapal Swordfish1" Constellar Pleiades Attacks Performapal Sword Fish. The star knight sliced the monster in half, creating a shockwave that sends Yuya off the ground.

 **(Yuya: LP 4000** → **2100)**

"Yuya‼" Zuzu exclaimed in concern. Yuya bounced off the ground a couple of times before landing hard. Allie closed her eyes, Frederick and Tate were both shocked, and Yasuko narrowed her eyes, fueling her anger that this duel had to turn out to be.

"You're getting what you deserve, Yuya… For what you did to my classmate, Sylvio. For putting him in the hospital." Hokuto spoke of Sylvio's incident attack that caused Yuya to be resilient in his defense. He got back up and openly protest his opponent.

"For the last time, Hokuto, it wasn't me!" he exclaimed.

"So typically." Hokuto rebuked. "First, you lied about the powers of the Pendulum, and now, you're lying about what you did to Sylvio." Hokuto denies everything Yuya was convincing him. "You all will lose disgracefully, and this Duel School will become a part of LDS!" Hokuto assured, causing Yuya to retort against the claim.

"No! I won't let you do that!" Yuya snapped. "And the powers of Pendulum summoning are true!" The Xyz duelist to smile in amusement.

"Not from what I've seen. I'll play one card face-down and end my turn!" Hokuto said with a challenge as he took a card and set it face down on the field.

 **Turn 3: Yuya (3x cards)**

It was Yuya's turn, but he was thinking of how to counter Pleiades since it has an Overlay Unit. He must be cautious about this turn now.

"Okay!" said Yuya. "It's my draw‼" Yuya draws a card from his deck. He then smirked, as he knew what he had to do. "Let's do this again! Time for an encore! Pendulum Summon! Come forth my monsters!" Yuya called. Like before, a portal opened, and two lights came down for two monsters to appear on the field.

"Performapal Turn Toad!" A yellow-green toad wearing a polka-dotted bow tie appeared in Defense Mode. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called as his Odd-Eyes took the field once again, as it was ready for a second chance. Yuya Pendulum Summons **Performapal Turn Toad (ATK 0/DEF 800)** and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Sora looked unamused when Yuya made a predated Pendulum Summon.

"Come on, Yuya! A re-run monster already? How's that entertainment?" Sora complained. "This is boring!

"Now isn't the time for that!" Yuya yelled, causing Sora to frown in annoyance.

Yasuko focuses on the Pleiades' Overlay Unit. Since the Xyz monster only has one Overlay Unit left, there was no doubt that Yuya figured out how to waste the monster's remaining Overlay unit.

" _Yuya seems to be thinking for once."_ Yasuko thought. " _Since he knows that if Pleiades has one Overlay Unit left, then he can't use the monster's abilities, but I wonder…"_ Yasuko turned her eyes to look at the place where Hokuto's face down is. " _If that face-down is what I think it is, then I just hope Yuya better be careful on what he's about to do."_

From the sky, another shooting star land on a pillared structure where Yuya spots it immediately that it's an Action Card.

"Yes!" said Yuya. "Get set, Odd-Eyes!" Yuya hops back onto his dragon and makes a break for the Action Card.

"Seems that he's going for the Action Card once more." Henrietta smiled, watching Yuya running across the field. "I guess he didn't learn his lesson the first time." Yuya kept running across the field while riding on his dragon. The beast kept running and jumping obstacles to get to the Action Card as quickly as possible.

"Why is he taking such a big risk?" Zuzu inquired.

"I don't know," Gongenzaka answered. "But I've never seen him duel with such abandon." Zuzu started to look very worried about Yuya. When she saw how determined he was in his face, she felt her heart beat skipped when she compared Yuya's face to the stranger's look from last night.

"Yuya..." Zuzu whispered, catching Yasuko's attention before she turned her face back to the duel.

"Must get to that card!" Yuya attempts to get the Action Card floating on the roof top.

"I activate Pleiades' special effect!" Hokuto points to his dragon. "By using one Overlay Unit, Odd-Eyes gets send back to the hand!" Just like before, the red dragon glows in bright light before it disappears, causing Yuya to fall off the roof.

"That guy! He did it purposely at that timing!" Gongenzaka exclaimed angrily. "Shut your eyes! This could get really bad!"

Yuya slides down from the roof top.

"Yuya!" Zuzu called.

"Do something!" Allie, Frederick, and Tate all shouted together for Yuya to act.

"I activate my trap card, Performapal Revival!" Yuya pressed the face-down card he had earlier called **Performapal Revival.** "Since a special ability made my Odd-Eyes leave the field, I can get to bring it back one Performapal from my graveyard!" Yuya summons back Performapal Swordfish, which he uses the monster to latch onto the edge, saving himself in the process.

"Way to _hang_ in there!" Hokuto called from the opposite direction while all three of the kids glare at the Xyz duelist.

Yasuko doesn't find his pun to be funny and give a small sound of disgust. "Enough with the puns, already," she said.

Yuya swings forward to flip himself back up and lands on the rooftop once again. "You baited me with that Pendulum Dragon," Hokuto commented as he noticed Yuya running up and managed to grab an Action Card. "But it won't matter." At that moment, Hokuto activated a card. "Action Magic! Cosmo Arrow! This card destroys one Spell Card obtained from anything outside drawing!" Hokuto called.

From the Action card, a green beam shot out like a bullet and blasted the Action Card that Yuya just obtained. He looked shocked that he finally had an Action Card and yet, it was destroyed by Hokuto's Action card.

"So, what are you gonna do now?" Hokuto inquired teasingly. Yuya gritted his teeth regretfully that he has no choice but to end his turn.

"I end my turn. I'm out of moves," Yuya concluded.

 **Turn 4: Hokuto (4x Cards)**

Yasuko looked at the Xyz monster. There were no more Overlay Units now that is' used up all its abilities. " _Without any Overlay Units, Pleiades can't use its special ability."_ Yasuko thought as Hokuto draws a card from his deck.

"My turn…I draw!" said Hokuto. He looked at the card that he just drew and smirked that it's a monster card. "I Summon Constellar Sombre!" Hokuto Normal Summons **Constellar Sombre (ATK 1550/ DEF 1600).** From the field, a female knight monster with wings appears on the field beside Pleiades. "And say good-bye to any chances in this Duel because, with Sombre's special ability, I can banish a Constellar monster from my and add another Constellar monster from my graveyard to my hand. And I choose Constellar Kaus!" With Sombre's special effect, he banishes Constellar Agiedi and picks out Constellar Kaus.

"But I'm not done yet, Yuya," Hokuto continued. "Because when the turn the ability is activated, I can summon it on the field!" Hokuto Normal Summons Constellar Kaus back onto the field.

"With two monsters on the field, and Kaus' special ability to raise two monsters one level higher, then I think I know where this is going." Yasuko speculated.

"Two monsters with the same level," said Yuya. "Which means—"

"Not yet, Yuya!" Hokuto interrupted. "I still have Kaus's special ability! As you may remember, with it, I can increase one level of a monster twice per turn!" Kaus shot two blue arrows into the sky, which then turned to a raining light on itself and Sombre.

 **(Constellar Sombre: Level 4** → **5)**

 **(Constellar Kaus: Level 4** → **5)**

"Just as I thought…" said Yasuko.

Level 5? Not good!" Yuya exclaimed.

"Not for you anyway." Hokuto beamed. "Because I Overlay Constellar Kaus and Sombre to build the Overlay Network!" Hokuto declared. Like the first Xyz summon, the two monsters turned to yellow lights as the cosmic portal appeared on the ground, allowing the yellow lights to go in. "I Xyz Summon Rank 5 Constellar Pleiades!" Another Pleiades monster appears beside the one that used up all its Overlay Units.

"You're kidding…" Yasuko hissed.

"He has…another Pleiades," said Yuya.

Hokuto makes a mocking laugh. "You must have been expecting that by using up all of my Overlay Units, I couldn't activate Pleiades' effect anymore, but that's too bad for you because that was all within my expectations." Hokuto taunted.

"I was afraid it was going this way," Sora commented to himself once again.

"All of the conditions have been met! The Stars are in alignment!" said Hokuto as he took a card from his Extra Deck. "By Overlaying Pleiades, I can Xyz Summon this card by using one Constellar Pleiades as Xyz Material!" Hokuto explained, leaving Yuya to step back in surprise.

"Another Xyz Summon?!" Yuya exclaimed. The cosmic portal appears on the ground again, but this time, the Pleiades with no Overlay Units was the one turning into yellow light and went into the entrance.

 _"I_ _Xyz Summon_ _! Rank 6!_ Constellar Ptolemy M7 _!"_ Hokuto called _,_ _as he Xyz summon_ **Constellar Ptolemy M7 (ATK 2700/DEF 2000)** _._ A dragon-like monster with star wings materialized and roared on the field.

"Perhaps now you understand why it's best to allow the Leo Institute take over your teachings, that is if we readmit any one of you…" said Henrietta with the other students looking toward her. Unnoticed by anyone, a black hooded stranger is standing aside from the door while leaning over to get a close look at the duel.

Another shooting star landed on a ruined building, which Yuya noticed that it's an Action Card. "Turn Toad spring to it!" Yuya got on Turn Toad before it hopped off the structure they were already on.

"This time I'll—" Yuya started, only for Hokuto to sneer at his opponent's persistence.

"He just never learns, does he?" Hokuto said as he turned to his Pleiades. "I activate Constellar Pleiades' special ability! By using one Overlay Unit, Performapal Turn Toad leaps back to your hand!" Pleiades grabbed one of the orbiting lights and turned Flip Toad to dust as it was returned to Yuya's hand.

Despite losing his monster, Yuya continues to run with Sword Fish with him, who was still in Defense Mode to protect his Life Points.

"And now! Pleiades! Attack Sword Fish!" Pleiades swung its sword, slicing on the side of a structure and destroying Sword Fish along with it. The attack made the columns breakable as it was going to crash down on to Yuya, shocking Zuzu and Gongenzaka.

"Yuya!" Zuzu exclaimed in shock.

"Get out of there!" Gongenzaka added desperately.

The structure was collapsing on Yuya when he noticed an Action Card up ahead. "That's it! An Action Card!" Yuya called as the kids started to get even more worried about their Pendulum user.

"Yuya!" Allie, Frederick, and Tate exclaimed in dismay.

Despite the danger he's in, Yuya stepped back to get ready to run for the card. "Press forward!" He grunted, as he then sprinted. The structure collapsed with Hokuto watching, still smirking; however, the smirk disappeared when he saw Yuya standing with a few scratches, holding the Action Card.

"Yuya!" Zuzu said happily. "Alright!"

"He did it!" Gongenzaka cheered along.

"He managed to get the Action Card," Yasuko added.

Hokuto was bewildered by his reckless actions to get the Action Card despite the circumstances that he had to endure. "No way… You should have run away there," Hokuto said in disbelief.

"Yes way, and I wouldn't want to end the show when I can just keep it going on?" Yuya taunted.

"Way a go, Yuya!" Sora yelled excitedly.

"Burning! What an awesome play!" Shuzo added along.

"So cool!" The three kids cheered, with

"It's giving me the shivers!" Frederick cried happily, trembling with excitement.

"Either way, this duel's ending here and now! Constellar Ptolemy M7! Attack Yuya!" Hokuto ordered. Ptolemy M7 glows its wings to attack for the win.

"I activate the Action Spell! Twinkle Comet!" Yuya activates the Action Spell Card that he just got from the building; **Twinkle Comet**. "Until the end of the turn, Ptolemy M7's ATK points is decreased by 1000 as well as dealing 500 damage to the player!" Yuya declared as a black comet hit M7 lowering its power. At the same time, the shockwave caused the Xyz duelist to hold his ground as a few of his Life Points dropped down, due to the Comet's other effect.

 **(Constellar Ptolemy M7: ATK 2700** → **1700)**

 **(Hokuto: LP 4000** → **3500)**

Despite the decrease, M7's attack still manages to go through and slam Yuya to the ground.

 **(Yuya: LP 2100** → **400)**

"Damn you." Hokuto cursed. "You fool…" Yuya stood back up, staring at his opponent. "Within my 40 consecutive wins, you damaged my never-before-touched Life Points!" The Xyz user snapped angrily, furious to have taken damage for the first time.

"This was within your expectations, huh?" Sora commented to himself once again, narrowing his eyes at the furious Xyz duelist as he continued with his turn.

"I activate the Continuous Spell Card, **Constellar Tempest**! I can only activate this card if there are 2 or more Constellar Xyz Monsters on my field!" Hokuto bellowed. "I can get this storm to turn you into ruins!"

Suddenly, meteors came crashing down on to the field with Yuya running for his life. The night skies are being littered with fiery red meteors that are falling everywhere on the area. Yuya saw a big meteor coming at his direction. He runs to the other direction as the meteor crashed to the ground. The meteor show rains down on the ruins, turning the night sky red from all the fires.

"At the end of this turn, your Life Points will be halved! I end my turn with that!" One of the meteors almost hit Yuya sending him flying with his life points being cut in halve.

 **(Yuya: LP 400** → **200)**

"At this moment Constellar Ptolemy M7's ATK returns to normal!" The Xyz duelist called, as his Rank 6 monster's ATK boosted back to its original ATK.

 **(Constellar Ptolemy M7: ATK 1700** → **2700)**

Hokuto held a maniac look on his face that seems to border to be psychotic. He was very vengeful on Yuya for tarnishing his life points like that.

"You're all mine now, Yuya," he said. "This duel is over." He was interrupted by the three kids who are angrily yelling at the Xyz duelist for his cruel acts to Yuya.

"Not yet it isn't!" Frederick yelled. "What do you think a Duel is?!"

"That's right." Allie agreed, only for Hokuto to lash out at them.

"Shut up! A Duel is a fight! It's business!" Hokuto snapped. "If it's to win you can't be picky about your methods!"

 **Turn 5** **:** **Yuya (5x Cards)**

"No!" Yuya yelled, shocking Hokuto. "I... don't want anyone to get hurt!" Yuya declared, causing Zuzu's eyes widened for some reason. There was this sudden recognition from Yuya's voice that matched the same passion from the other day. Yuya stands up and opens both arms to the audience who are speculating the duel.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! The Fun has just begun! My turn! Draw!" Yuya drew the top card from his Deck and saw it was the card he needed to win. "All right! I summon Performapal Trampolynx!" Yuya called. He Normal Summons **Performapal Trampolynx (ATK 300/DEF 300)**

From the hole pops out a purple Performapal cat with a trampoline body that appeared on the field. "When this feline is successfully summoned, I'm allowed to return one card on my field back to my hand! And I shall return the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician to my hand!" Yuya explained as his one of his Pendulum magicians, Stargazer Magician disappeared from the Pendulum Zone and returned to the Pendulum user's hand.

"Then his Pendulum Summoning will be—" Tate began.

"What'll happen to it?" Frederick questioned.

"Since Stargazer left, now it's time to step on up! The one who will take Stargazer's place is... Performapal Turn Toad!" Yuya declared bringing Toad's card out. The card he draws out confused everyone in the room.

"What?" Yasuko said in confusion.

"Now, your attention, please! I finish the Pendulum Scale with the Scale 3 Performapal Turn Toad and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!" Yuya demonstrates this by putting Performapal Turn Toad on the very right of his blade where Stargazer used to be, causing a 'PENDULUM' chain reaction flashing across the board. Turn Toad appeared in a pillar of blue light with the scale number three under it, as it floated beside Timegazer Magician.

 _"_ _And this premiere performance is going to have you edge at your seat, 'cause with this, I can summon any monsters within Levels 4 and 7 At the same time!_ _Sway, Pendulum of the Soul! Draw an arc of light across the ether! I_ ** _Pendulum Summon_** _! Come forth my monsters!"_ Yuya chanted. The portal appeared again with two different lights shining down, as they both turned into monsters once again.

"First I'd like to welcome Stargazer Magician back to the stage! And it's time for the super star of today's event! With its ferocious but beautiful dual-colored eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Yuya declared as he Pendulum Summons **Stargazer Magician (ATK 1200/DEF 2400)** and **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon** back on the field.

"That again? No worries!" said Hokuto, as he activates his monster's effect once again. "I activate Constellar Pleiades' special effect! By using one Overlay Unit, Odd-Eyes returns to your hand!" Hokuto declared.

Once again, Pleiades used up the final orb which forced Odd-Eyes to disappear again. "With this it's show-time is over! And your main star is over!" The Xyz duelist declared, only for Yuya to counter that declaration with a different approach.

"I think not! The main star is immortal!" Yuya announced, catching his opponent by surprise again.

"What?!" Hokuto yelped in shock.

"And it's all thanks to Stargazer's special ability! Once per turn, when a Pendulum Monster leaves me field, I can Special Summon that same monster right back!" Yuya explained. Stargazer Magician began to use its power to send out a blue light. He held his staff in front of him to activate the circle. It twisted backward, and the red dragon comes out once again.

"Another splendid entrance, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya called, summoning his ace monster once again, as Odd-Eyes let out a roar to its opponents.

"He did it! He can defeat Pleiades with Odd-Eyes' double damage effect!" Frederick exclaimed.

Yasuko sigh so hard that she can't believe that this is Frederick's limited intelligence on Xyz Monsters. "Weren't you paying attention earlier?" she questioned.

"Xyz have Ranks! Not Levels!" Sora reminded in annoyance as he remembered about Odd-Eyes' effect. "And besides Odd-Eyes only doubles battle damage, it doesn't increase its actual attack points," the Fusion duelist added.

"Then he can't win?" Allie asked, causing Yasuko to place her hand on her head

"Nonsense... this is where he makes a comeback," Yasuko reminded, causing Sora to nod in agreement and smile. Yasuko looked at Sora and made a nod too.

"Now it's finally time for the climax! I activate Turn Toad's Pendulum Effect! Until the end of the turn, it can flip the ATK and DEF of one Pendulum Monster on my field! And the points that I'll be swapping is Stargazer Magician!" Yuya announced.

 **(Stargazer Magician: ATK 1200** → **2400/DEF 2400** → **1200)**

"In addition, I activate the Spell Card, Magical Star Illusion!" Yuya draws his last card to play **Magical Star Illusion**. "Since Stargazer Magician is out on the field, until the end of the turn, all monsters on either player's field gain ATK equal to the total of the Levels by 100!" Yuya declared. Tate began to count the levels of each of Yuya's monster and does the math.

"Woah, I think I just did the math," said Tate. "The Levels of the monsters on Yuya's field are, Odd-Eyes at 7, Stargazer at 5, and Trampolynx at 2. That's a total of 14!" Tate summarized. "Each of their ATK points will go up by 1400 then?" Gongenzaka questioned.

"Yeah... And when you combine all their attack points in total to Constellar Xyz Monsters, they're outmatched." Yasuko pointed out.

 **(Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 2500** → **3900)**

 **(Stargazer Magician: ATK 2400** → **3800)**

 **(Performapal Trampolynx: ATK 300** → **1700)**

"B-but won't the opponent's ATK go up too?" Frederick asked in worry, causing both Yasuko and Sora to sigh in annoyance over Frederick's lack of understanding on Levels and Ranks.

"My god, you really are stupid," Yasuko whispered lowly and said out loud for Fredrick to understand better. "Ranks aren't Levels."

"Yeah, so all Xyz Monsters don't have levels." Sora began.

"Ah! I get it now! Xyz doesn't have Levels so—" Tate realized, allowing Allie to finish his words. "His opponent's ATK stays the same!" Allie exclaimed.

"Say what?!" Hokuto exclaimed desperately with tears in his eyes. "This can't be happening!"

Yuya hopped onto Odd-Eyes to finish the duel. "Looks like you taking me down wasn't in the stars! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attack Constellar Ptolemy M7! _Spiral Burst Strike_!" Odd-Eyes opened its mouth and released a crimson red spiraling blast from its mouth, destroying the Constellar dragon, sending Hokuto flying in the process.

 **(Hokuto: LP 3500** → **2300)**

"Now, Stargazer Magician attack Pleiades! _**Horoscope Cutter**_!" Stargazer Magician released a connected star attack from his staff, which was sent to destroy Pleiades, delivering another shockwave towards Hokuto as he tried to hold his ground.

 **(Hokuto: LP 2300** → **1000)**

"And now for the finish! Direct attack with Trampolynx!" Trampolynx ran towards the defenseless Xyz user and jumped to make the final attack for the win. With his life points now lowered, al Hokuto can do is watch the purple feline cat falls towards him

"No, wait! I'm allergic—" Hokuto started, only for trampoline cat to land on its back, trapping him in the process. When it rolled up, it released Hokuto who was bounced off from the trampoline body, sending him to the wall. He lands flat against the wall so hard that the background images waved from the impact.

 **(Hokuto: LP 1000** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yuya Sakaki**

"And that's a wrap!" Yuya concluded to the duel. "Hoped you enjoy the show." Hokuto slides down from the wall as the field spell disintegrates from the field. All the stars and ruins have reverted to being just a stadium.

"He did it!" The three little kids cheered.

Every You Show Duelists all cheered on Yuya for their first victory to defend the school. They chanted his name while he waves at them.

Yasuko could see their faces all beaming at Yuya for defending his school. After seeing this school's Duel, she was seeing how this school teaches their students how to Duel. "Seems that You Show is schooling your school, Henrietta," Yasuko calls out to the Chairwoman. She noticed her comment while holding a fan in front of her mouth.

"So, it's one loss," said Henrietta. "No worries, there are plenty of students here who can even the odds."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the woman. _She is right. There're still two more students who still haven't challenge the duelists in You Show._ She glanced briefly at the two students who could be next.

One of those students happens to be a teenage girl with dark skin tone, shoulder-length black hair, and red eyes. She was staring at Yasuko in the same gaze she always makes. Their eyes locked onto each other, never removing one single view off their figures. Briefly, Yasuko glanced at her duel disk holster that looks exactly like hers. The girl did the same and look back at her eyes.

" _Looks like this is going to get harder for now on,"_ she thought to herself of the outcome that will bring the end of You Show forever.

* * *

 **Okay, so bear with me on this. I know that if you've seen the anime series, then you know how boring it gets just by reading this same part over again, but I'm looking over ways that character could've done in the anime considering that most Turns don't last more than 10, but I'm looking over the duel and hope to alternate some things as I go on.**

 **And no, I won't be covering every duels. Again, this is only when the character is present. After all, I'm still new to the whole fic about Yu-Gi-Oh. Just wait, two more until my special duel coming up soon. So get ready and don't miss it. And thank you for taking the time to read this through. I hoped you enjoy reading this so far. Still needs work, but I am trying my best.**


	10. Chapter 10: The Exoneration Duel Part 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 10: The Exoneration Duel Part 2_

* * *

After Yuya's first victory for You Show, the score for both schools are 1-0. Despite the cheering from the kids and Gongenzaka who was bursting in tears of joy, Yasuko remains stony on their next opponent. The one person who couldn't stop staring at Yasuko was the teenage girl from the Leo Institute's team.

She kept her same suspicious narrowed eyes staring at the girl who was staring back at her without any distractions. Her eyes show a fierce determination to beat the school that she was waiting on for. Neither one of them remove their gaze until Yuya finally calls to Zuzu.

"Zuzu." Yasuko turned her eyes away from the girl and see Zuzu staring down at Yuya.

"Um…yes, Yuya?" Zuzu responded. Her voice sounded strange to Yasuko. It hears like her voice was strained. She looks at her eyes and there was this uncertain gaze that made Yasuko wonder about what was going on with Zuzu.

"You're up next," Yuya said. "And we're counting on you." Yuya smiles like he has high hopes for Zuzu. She blinked once before her face resolves to show her determination to defend her school.

"Right, just leave this to me," said Zuzu. "I know that our whole school depends on this next duel," she held a fist to her heart, "so I know I have to win this,"

Yasuko is impressed at her resolve. A few seconds ago, she was completely uncertain about the next duel, but when Yuya encourages her to be at her best, she has changed. She could've sworn that light was enlighten from somewhere or was it the lights from the ceiling that got all blinking if the light bulb was about to break.

"Then be at your best," Yasuko commented, earning a glance from Zuzu. She smiled and nodded at her.

"You bet I will," she said.

Henrietta, on the other hand, was scowling hard at Hokuto, who was on his knees in shame after he was defeated by Yuya. Her arms cross against her chest that shows how furious she is from the inside despite the cool look on the outside.

"You've allowed a third-rate duelist from another school to thoroughly humiliate you," Henrietta scowled. "And you've tarnished the Leo Institutes' Xyz curriculum," she frowned so hard that it made Hokuto bow his head that he has disappointed his Chairwoman who represents the school's top funding company. Despite the rebuke, Henrietta looked across to see Yuya reassuring Zuzu on her duel. In her mind, she was thinking all about Yuya's Pendulum Summoning and his cards.

" _However, this makes me want to have those Pendulum cards even more,"_ she thought. " _Those boy's cards are gonna be mine one way or another."_ Her mouth tugged a delightful smirk. She was so interested in getting Yuya's card.

"Begin the second duel," she announced. "it is your turn next." Henrietta told the girl that Yasuko was staring at. Yasuko turns back to the girl, who turned to the door.

"Yes…Madam Chairwoman," she said with such obedience to the woman. She walks to the door, but not before passing Yasuko, she shared one last glance at her. When Yasuko glares at her eyes, the hostility between them spike further.

It looks like time slowed between Yasuko standing still and the girl walking to the stadium. They couldn't keep their eyes off from each other before time resumed, and the girl walk past Yasuko, but she glanced over her shoulder to look at the girl for maybe the longest of time.

The girl opens the door and shows herself in front of the You Show Students. Her hands turned to fists and introduces herself to the group. "I am Julia Kotsu, and I am a Fusion Summoner from the Fusion Course." Sora, who was sitting back eating his sweets, blink surprisingly at her proclaiming to be a duelist who uses his specialty.

"Huh? That girl uses Fusions eh? Well this battle just got a lot more interesting," Sora commented biting off a chocolate covered stick. Julia take out her blue duel disk from her duel holster and attaches it to her left arm like it was a firearm.

"Do any of you amateurs have the guts to go against me?" Julia dared anyone from You Show to show their courage to duel her.

"I do." Julia's eyes roves to the person who called out to her. She was staring at Zuzu, standing beside her. "Me!" she announced. " _You Show Duel School is on the line in this duel and so is Yuya's innocence, I can't afford to lose this duel! But I can't be sore who that was..."_ Zuzu thought seriously, until she remembered a face familiar to Yuya's face.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the Fusion girl smirking with confidence. She waved her hair back and place a hand on her hip.

"Ready?" she asked. It caught Zuzu off guard for a moment before she glared back at her.

The two girls moved into the Duel Room, where they had activated their Duel Disks for their duel to begin. Everyone was all present in the audience room to watch the duel. Yasuko puts her hands to rest in her jacket vest pockets.

"A fitting field for my beloved jewel would be..." Shuzo searched the screen for a perfect Action Field to set up. "Okay! This one! Action Field, on! Field Spell: Crystal Corridor, activate!" Shuzo called, activating the Duel Field; **Crystal Corridor**. The field was lighted up to be generation a large royal corridor made up of entirely crystal. The field also generated crystal stair case to get to the next level. The floors, the ceiling, and even the windows, all sparkled with so many jewels that are hand crafted. Shuzo stood up and called for his daughter.

"Zuzu! I chose a field that perfectly suits your flawless sparkling cuteness! You can shine all you want here!" Shuzo called, causing the daughter to flush red in embarrassment.

"Geez... Dad... this is so embarrassing," Zuzu said, feeling humiliated with her 'hot-blooded' father.

Yasuko was agreeing with Zuzu on that one. If there's one thing she hates also, is that she hates over-compulsive fathers who adores their daughters so much to make their feel revere. She leans over to Yuya and said to him, "Doesn't that dude ever just stop?"

"Well…" Yuya started to chuckle nervously, thinking back to his experience with Zuzu's father. "He's a really hot boiling man after all, so it's natural to him."

Yasuko cringed one eye. "Yeah, but not to me." She heard Julia chuckling in amusement as she narrowed her eyes at the principal of You Show Duel School.

"Heh... Only a biased, stupid parent would see someone such as yourself as 'sparkling cute'," Julia scoffed, catching Zuzu by surprise. She glared angrily at her Fusion opponent.

"What did you say!?" Zuzu snapped back.

"There isn't an ounce of light in your eyes," Julia commented basically. "Which makes you a fake, a liar. You're too afraid to tell the truth about your pal." Her statement seemed to catch Zuzu off guard before she frowned at Julia.

"Wh-What are you talking about!?" Zuzu snapped. "You don't know anything about me!"

Julia smirked, before explaining. "Maybe not, but I know a lot about jewels. My Papa's a jeweler. I've seen many jewels since I was a kid... Real jewels that hold true radiance… I know how real jewels shine…" Julia explained. "And you don't have that shine." Zuzu blinked once as the Fusion girl continued with her complicated explanation. "That's why I can tell. The way you are now, you have no radiance..." Julia continued. "You can fool your father and your friends, but you can't fool me."

Julia then glared at her opponent, making her prove. "I can see it in your eyes; your wavering heart is evidence of that!" she declared, causing Zuzu to widen her eyes in shock.

She recalled the boy yesterday that looked just like Yuya. The thought of him inside her caused her to sweat before she shook it off again.

"Mind your own business! You can say what you want about my heart, but I will prove to you that my heart's not wavering by dueling!" Zuzu snapped.

"Sounds like the girls are ready to play," said Yasuko, watching the duel carefully to remember the opponent's duel style.

"The duelists are getting set to center the stage," Yuya announced.

"Their monsters are waiting in the winds for their big entrance," Gongenzaka announced along with Yuya.

"So, without further a duel!" Yuya declared.

"Let's get—" Tate added.

"This on—" Frederick added.

"With the show!" Allie finishes the sentence.

"So now we present the main event!" the three little kids all cheered together. "Action…

"DUEL‼!" Julia and Zuzu declared together to star the duel.

 **DUEL:**

 **Julia Kotsu LP: 4000**

 **VS**

 **Zuzu Hiiragi LP: 4000**

The bubble that was filled with Action cards bursts open to let all the cards scatter across the field. The first goes to Julia, who has already drawn a card from her deck.

 **Turn 1: Julia (5x cards)**

"I think I shall go first," Julia declared. "I draw, and I think I'll start by playing Gem Knight Fusion Spell card!" Julia placed a Spell Card; **Gem Knight Fusion.** "It lets me fuse two Gem Knight monsters in my hand!"

Much to Zuzu's surprise, Julia is going to make a Fusion Summon on her first turn. "Already!?" she gasped.

Yuya was confused about how that can fuse two monsters from her hand without being summoned on the field. "So you can fuse two monsters even if you haven't summon it?" Yuya inquired.

"Of course, you can," Yasuko stated. "Fusion Summon happens with you combine two monsters into a bigger monster," she explained. "In Fusion Summon, you can use Materials that are already in your hand or on the field, or it can be both at the same time." The You-Show faction turns their head to the girl. Her unsurprised face shows how Yasuko doesn't seem so shocked. For someone who isn't surprised by anyone doing an Extra Deck summons, Yasuko seems to be very familiar with it.

"Yep," Sora added, "This is called Hand Fusion."

"There are two ways a Fusion Summon can happen: either by Hand Fusion, which is fusing materials from the hands as long as you have the spell card that is needed to make a Fusion Summon; or the simple Field Fusion, which is using the materials on the field, and playing the spell card from your hand.

"A successful Fusion Summon requires mostly the spell card, Polymerization, but there are other ways to make a Fusion Summon so long as the spell card has the ability to fuse two or more monsters to summon a new monster from the Extra Deck, but if you have a material on the field and both the spell card and the other material in your hand, then it's called a "Hand-Field-Combo," which is allowed, as long as they meet the conditions."

Sora's eyebrow was raised full of interest about the girl. "Hey Yasuko, how did you know about Fusion Summon?" he asked. "It seems like you're familiar with it like how you explained Xyz Summon." He happens to notice how very knowledgeable Yasuko is when she explained Fusion and Xyz Summon.

Yasuko gives a shrug for him. "Don't know," Yasuko answered.

"Then how do you know about those things?" Sora pressed on. "You just talked about it like it was from a textbook." The only answer he gets was another shrug.

For some reason, Yasuko didn't seem to know how she understands it. "I don't know," she said. "I just do." Yasuko dismissed any more questions and focuses back to the duel.

"I shall fuse…" Julia picks out two cards from her hand to show Zuzu the monsters that she is going to fuse. "My Gem-Knight Tourmaline and Gem-Knight Emerald!" Julia explained as the two Gem-Knight monsters both reveal themselves before a swirling vortex fuses them together to create a new Fusion Monster.

" _Gem tinged with lightning. Brilliant emerald of good fortune. In a whirlpool of light combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance!_ I **Fusion Summon**! Appear! The one who pursues victory, Gem-Knight Topaz!" Julia chanted as she Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Topaz (ATK 1800/DEF 1800** ). The Fusion emerges from the vortex. The monster was a golden armored knight with a green cape to the back equipped with two hammer weapons shaped as tomahawks.

The appearance of the Fusion monster on her first turn has started to unnerve Zuzu at the sight of it. "No way…" said Zuzu, looking at her golden monster. "I can't believe that she can Fusion Summon on her first turn."

"Well, here's something else you don't believe," Julia said. "You don't stand a chance at beating me and saving your school," Julia smirked at Zuzu's surprise as she flipped her hair. "Even your dull, lifeless eyes seem to grasp the terror of 'Hand Fusion' just from seeing it," Julia taunted. Zuzu reminded herself of the attack points that the monster possesses.

"That's a lot of talk coming from someone who just summon a monster that's not going to be very hard to beat," Zuzu taunted back, but that only caused Julia to smirk at her.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Julia warned. "How you deal with this monster is going to make or break you, so don't treat it too lightly." She then picks out a card from her hand. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Julia placed one card set on the field to end her turn.

 **Turn 2: Zuzu (5x cards)**

"Well, let's just see what will break!" Zuzu declared as she draws a card from her deck. She took a glance at it before she made her mouth turn to a smirk that her strategy is just beginning. "I'll start things off by activating the Spell Card, 1st Movement Solo from my hand!" Zuzu declared, playing the Spell Card; **1st Movement Solo.** "With this card, if I control no monsters on my side of the field, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower "Melodious" monster from my hand!" Zuzu takes out a card that is going to Special summon.

"I Special Summon Aria, the Melodious Diva!" Zuzu Special Summons **Aria, the Melodious Diva (ATK 1600/DEF 1200).** The angelic monster with light pink skin appears on the field. "When there's a Melodious Monster on the field, I can Special Summon this card from my hand!" Zuzu takes out another monster from her hand; **Sonata, the Melodious Diva (ATK 1200/DEF 1000).** "So, I Special Summon Sonata, The Melodious Diva!" Zuzu Special Summons another monster that is just angelic as Aria. Sonata had green hair and one harpy wing to the left.

"Now, the concert begins!" Zuzu declared. The two Melodious monsters begin to chorus together like they are in a duet. "I tribute Melodious "Aria" and "Sonata" and combine their melodies to Advance summon a new monster!" Zuzu called. The two monsters join hands to disappear and form a new monster to take over the two Melodious monsters' place.

" _An enchanting melody rings from the heavens. Awaken the sleeping genius!_ Come forth! My Level 8 Mozarta, The Melodious Maestra!" Zuzu Advance Summons **Mozarta, the Melodious Maestra (ATK 2400/DEF 2000)**. Mozarta was another angelic Melodious monster that had the wings that are like harpy and the entire dress was coded in red. Zuzu's monster was so beautiful that it has affected the little kids.

"Ah…now she's a superstar!" Frederick beamed.

"It's Zuzu's ace monster!" Tate pointed out.

Yasuko was looking at Zuzu's monsters with intrigue. "Wow, so those are Zuzu's monsters huh?" Yasuko inquired. "I've got to say, they're impressive." Deep in her thoughts, she was having a second opinion on this match. _"And yet, is it powerful enough to beat her?"_

"That's just the opening act!" Zuzu continued. "Once per turn, Mozarta lets me summon a Melodious monster that's level 4 or below." Just as Zuzu explained, Mozarta sent a peaceful bright beam to summon a new monster to the field.

"Now come on, Canon, The Melodious Diva!" Zuzu Special Summons **Canon, the Melodious Diva (ATK 1400/DEF 2000)**. From the beam, a portal opens to allow a blue haired woman dressed in a blouse appears in the field. She started to sing her tune for the battle to begin. "Let's battle! Mozarta attacks your Gem-Knight Topaz! Graceful Wave!" Zuzu called, pointing at the Gem-Knight Fusion Monster for her ace monster to attack. Mozarta did her singing, pointing her baton at Topaz to create a musical sound wave that obliterated the Fusion Monster, dealing damage to Julia. She covers herself as shockwaves shakes all around her.

 **(Julia: LP 4000** → **3200)**

"So, how'd you like that performance? That's how I deal with your monster!" Zuzu asked confidently. Julia looks up and, much to Zuzu's surprise, smirk at her. Even after losing her monster, Julia looks at her as if that was nothing. Showing hoe Julia was not giving in, Zuzu prepares her second monster for a direct attack. "Alright Canon, you're in the spotlight now! Canon the Melodious Diva attacks you directly!" Zuzu called.

At the order, the blue-haired Melodious Diva monster opens her mouth and shot a graceful song that blasts the winds to Julia. She skidded on her feet to prevent herself from falling as she as pushed back by the song. She lost more than half of her Life Points from the two attacks she took.

 **(Julia: LP 3200** → **1800)**

"She did it!" Allie cheered happily.

"It's giving me the shivers!" Frederick cried out happily.

"Nice going, Zuzu!" Yuya called, cheering for his childhood friend.

While everyone was cheering on for Zuzu, Yasuko remained silent; however, watching the way Julia earlier when Topaz was destroyed. She never even felt hate or regret. She looks like this was something that was planned from the beginning.

"That's strange, why would Julia want her Fusion monster to be destroyed?" Yasuko whispered. She pondered her thoughts together about the Fusion monster that Julia summoned. It may have not enough attack points, but the monster can't be that weak. "Unless…that's what Julia would want it to be destroyed," Yasuko hypothesized.

Julia recovered from the attack and dusted herself off, admitting her small impression on Zuzu's abilities. "I'll admit that you do have a set of skills, but I'm pretty sure you won't win with just that to beat me," Julia said confidently, flipping her hair.

"I wouldn't be so sure!" Zuzu taunted, only for Julia to smirk at the small insult.

"You would be if you know what's going to happen on my next turn!" Julia declared. Zuzu does not like her taunting and stands guard for her second main phase to begin.

"Then I'm gonna change the tune, 'cause once per turn, my Canon of the Melodious Diva can change her Battle Position!" Zuzu explained as she turned her monster to defense mode. "I switch my Canon in Defense Mode and end my turn!" The blue-haired Melodious monster switched to defense, while her Mozarta remained in Attack Mode to face the opponent's next monster.

 **Turn 3: Julia (1x card)**

"My turn now!" Julia called as she drew her second card. She looked at it and smirked, before making her move. "I summon this Gem-Knight monster, Gem-Knight Alexandrite!" Julia called as she Normal summoned a new Gem-Knight monster on the field; **Gem-Knight Alexandrite (ATK 1800/DEF 1200)**. From the field came a silver armored knight with gemstones attached to the armor. "And I activate my Gem-Knight's Alexandrite's special ability! By sending this card to the graveyard, I can Special Summon one Gem-Knight monster from my Deck!" Julia explained.

The Alexandrite was tributed for a more powerful monster, as the Fusion girl summoned it out. "I Special Summon my Gem-Knight Crystal in attack mode!" Julia called, Special Summoning **Gem-Knight Crystal (ATK 2450/DEF 1950)**. The knight appears on the field to be more bulker on the arms with red outlining and brass knuckles.

"It's got 2450 ATK points…" Gongenzaka pointed out, noticing the monster's ATK. Zuzu frowned as she reminded her opponent of Mozarta's ATK.

"Hate to break it to ya, but it still can't get past the ATK points of my Mozarta..." Zuzu commented.

"That's a mistake right there…" Yasuko murmured quietly, seeing how Julia was smirking in her remarks.

"I activate my Trap! Fragment Fusion!" Julia declared, activating her Trap Card; **Fragment Fusion**. "By banishing monsters from my graveyard as Fusion Materials, I can Fusion Summon one Gem-Knight!" Julia explained, causing everyone to widen their eyes in shock, except for Yasuko, who doesn't seem to be shocked by this method.

"Wha—First she Fusion Summoned monsters from her hand, now she's Fusion Summoning by using the monsters in her graveyard!?" Yuya gasped.

"Obviously, you can do that," Yasuko admitted with a frown. "Not lot of people know that."

"I banish the three Gem-Knight Alexandrite, Tourmaline, and Emerald from my graveyard!" Julia declared as three monsters were banished. Sora noticed this combo and sighed before he ate another one of his chocolate sticks.

"Hm... So, she sent those two monsters to the Graveyard - Gem-Knight Topaz's Fusion Materials - to fuse with Alexandrite, huh? That girl's actually pretty good," Sora complimented, saying it like he already knew about this kind of Fusion Summoning.

"That Julia girl sure does know a lot more about Fusion Summoning than I thought she would," Yasuko commented, turning to Sora. "Hey, can I have some of the chocolate sticks too? I'm craving for some sweets." As requested, Sora hands his box of chocolate covered sticks to Yasuko as she takes about five of them and hands back the box to Sora.

" _Gem with facets of day and night. Gem tinged with lightning. Brilliant emerald of good fortune. In a whirlpool of light combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance!_ I **Fusion Summon**! Appear! One who illuminates everything with its supreme radiance! Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" Julia chanted as she Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Master Diamond (ATK 2900/DEF 2500).** The Gem-Knight looks a lot bigger than the rest of the previous Gem Knights. With its massive sword in its hand, the colossal Gem Knight has outmatched Mozarta.

"This is my true ace monster," Julia declared. "My Gem Knight Diamond is cutting edge above the rest." The sight of the Fusion monster made Zuzu take a step back in shock just by seeing such a powerful Fusion Monster.

"Now, I'll use Gem-Knight Master Diamond's power to banish Gem-Knight Topaz in my Graveyard!" Julia declared as she banished her first Fusion Monster out of the game.

"Banish...? But why?" Zuzu asked. "I don't understand?" Her eyes are trembling with fear that this monster is going to do a lot more damage than she did to Julia. Her spirit was quevering until Yuya spoke up to Zuzu.

"Zuzu!" She heard his call and turned to direction of where Yuya's voice was coming from. "Don't let your guard down! There's a plan at work here!" Yuya called. She looked at Yuya, but what that only did was stun Zuzu even more. She was looking at Yuya, only to see a familiar face of Yuya coming popping back. She grew even more paranoid to see what she was seeing. Her mind was racing so hard that she was losing her focus. She can't be sure of what she was seeing. Yuya…or the strange who is Yuya. The image was so haunting that she can't ge back to the duel.

" _What's with this girl?"_ Yasuko thought to herself. " _It's like she's seeing a ghost. What's been scrambling in her mind?"_

The Fusion girl noticed this and smirked. "What's the matter? Eys playing tricks on you? Can you afford to look away?" Julia asked, causing Zuzu to turn before she glanced back to where she saw Yuya's face, only for it to be gone out of sight.

"Let's battle! First up, my Gem-Knight Crystal attacks your Defense Mode Canon the Melodious Maestra!" Julia declared, pointing her finger at the Melodious monster for Crystal to attack. The Gem-Knight monster shot a barrage of crystals at Canon, eliminating her from the field. Julia then turned to Mozarta for her second attack, gesturing for her ace monster, Master Diamond to attack.

"This is where things get real! I'll have my Gem-Knight Master Diamond attack your Mozarta!" Julia called.

At the order, the powerful Gem-Knight warrior shot forward to slash Mozarta, who tried to counterattack with her baton's musical powers, only for her to be slashed by the Gem Knight and was destroyed. The explosion creates a massive shockwave causing Zuzu to shriek in shock.

 **(Zuzu: LP 4000** → **3700)**

"Zuzu's ace monster was beaten down!" Allie said in shock. "She just took down Mozarta like it was nothing.

"But she only took 300 points of damage..." Frederick started, only for Yasuko to interrupt his words.

"You're wrong, kid," Yasuko said, catching the kids by surprise.

"What do you mean?" Allie asked.

Yasuko's arms were crossed to be observant on the monsters and their special effects that could be the annihilation for Zuzu. "She hasn't played Master Diamond's special ability," Yasuko revealed. "Which means…this duel is over for Zuzu."

"That's correct," Julia remarked. "I still haven't played my Master Diamond's special ability."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Zuzu asked.

Julia could only smirk at her opponent. "Before battling, I'm sure that you remember how I activated the effect of my Gem-Knight Master Diamond. By banishing a Level 7 or lower Gem-Knight Fusion Monster, Master Diamond can gain that effect until the end of this turn!" Julia explained, leaving Zuzu in shock. She finally puzzled the first move that made

"So, that's why you banished Gem-Knight Topaz?" Zuzu asked, taking a step back. "Gem Knight Master Diamond has Topaz's special abilities?"

"That's correct! Topaz's first effect! When it destroys an opponent's monster on the field, the monster's original attack are inflicted to you as damage!" Julia explained.

At the call, Master Diamond activated Topaz's power to send sonic waves that blow Zuzu right off her feet and landed hard on the ground.

 **(Zuzu: LP 3700** → **1100)**

Desperate to see his daughter not lose, Shuzo stood up, trying to encourage her to stand up and win.

"Come on, Zuzu! Get yourself fired up! Get your hot-blooded burning! You can beat her‼‼" Shuzo bellowed desperately, with hot tears in his eyes. But at the stands, Yasuko, the You Show students, and Gongenzaka frowned at the situation going on. Zuzu took so much damage that her life points are even lower than Julia's.

"This is not good for Zuzu," said Yasuko.

"2600 points of damage..." Tate whispered in shock and in disbelief. "She just took that much damage."

"But she still got some Life Points left! That means Zuzu can probably—" Gongenzaka started, only for Yasuko to stop him.

Everyone's attention moves towards Yasuko and Sora, sharing the box of chocolate sticks. "No... there's more than that," Yasuko started. "And if I can predict what's going to happen…"

Sora smirked, seeing how Yasuko puzzled the pieces together for the outcome of the match. "It's exactly what you think, Yasuko…She's finished," Sora said, as he bit into his last chocolate stick.

"Oh, did I forgot to mention Topaz's second effect? Master Diamond can attack twice during the Battle Phase!" Julia explained, shocking both Yuya and Gongenzaka.

"It can do what...!?" Yuya gasped.

"But that means Zuzu is..." Gongenzaka started.

"Done for," Yasuko finished the

"It's over..." The three little kids all said together in shame.

"Like I said, it's the end." Sora reminded with a small smirk on his face. "I can almost taste the defeat." Sora licked his lips delightfully to see what happens next.

Zuzu struggled to stand as Master Diamond prepared his second attack on her. Her vision was fading very that she could barely see two feet in front of her. Julia stands tall with her Diamond Master besides her to show her victorious she is.

 _"No way... At this rate... I... I'll lose…"_ Zuzu thought as she glanced to see an Action Card up ahead.

"This is the end!" Julia called just before Zuzu stood up and begins to run for the Action Card. "Thanks to Topaz's special ability, I can attack again!" Julia calls as Zuzu made her last attempt to survive.

 _"It's do-or-die..."_ Zuzu thought.

"My Gem-Knight Master Diamond attacks you directly!" Julia yelled. With the Gem Knight monster preparing to slash his sword, Zuzu dove for the Action Card.

"I got it!" Zuzu called as she tried to grab it, only for something to block her way. She widened her eyes before she stopped. Zuzu realized that there was something wrong with the Action Card. Slowly, she turned to see the Action Card far away behind her. What she dove for was the reflection of the card.

"No way..." Zuzu whispered. "it's over there?"

"Fooled by an image reflected at the column. To be deceived by the reflection in the crystals... Your eyes must be quite clouded." Julia sighed. "I know that Yuya dueled Sylvio." At her words, Zuzu widened her eyes, frozen that what she is saying may be true to what happened at the port.

While she was thinking, Gem-Knight Master Diamond launched its attack. It shot a powerful beam, blasting Zuzu away.

"AHHHHHH!" Zuzu screamed as she was knocked to the ground, sliding for a moment before stopping.

 **(Zuzu LP 1100** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Julia Kotsu**

The entire duel was appalling to the You Show students. They all thought that Zuzu had this in the bag when they witness Zuzu getting pummeled by an LDS Student. Their eyes are full of defeat when Zuzu was beaten and the shock has left them devastated. They are now neck in neck with the Leo Institute that only one duel will determine everything from this point on. As the Crystal Corridor disappears from the field, Yuya immediately sprints after Zuzu.

"Man, oh man... Did she get beaten _that_ badly?" Sora sighed, biting off a chocolate covered stick.

"How pathetic," Yasuko commented as she eats her last piece of chocolate sticks. She glances over her shoulder to Sora who is looking just as deadpanned as she is. "I'm surprised that for someone who sides with You Show, you don't seem so concerned," she stated, leaving Sora to open one eye to see Yasuko staring at him as he let out a reassuring smile.

"Don't get me wrong. I really do like this school. It's just that, it's not my thing to be pressuring," Sora reminded.

"I suppose," Yasuko replied.

She heard Henrietta making a loud, "Ha" from across the observation room. "That was expected," said Henrietta. "This was no surprise."

Yasuko saw how Yuya was tending to Zuzu, who tried to stand up from her post, only to fall onto Yuya. She was surprised that the way Zuzu was holding onto his chest. Seizing this opportunity, she takes out her duel disk and turns on the camera. She waited for the perfect shot to be just right and clicks the button to take the picture. She takes a picture of them several times until Julia cuts in on their moment.

"It's quite a show the two of you are giving us," she said.

Zuzu got a little confused. Then her eyes widened as she finally realized that she was hugging with Yuya right now. She took a step backward and looked at Yuya's face who looked at her confusingly. Zuzu took another step backward before her face became almost as reddish pink as her hair, and then screamed loudly, pushing Yuya in embarrassment, but a little harder than she had intended which sent him flying to the ground.

"Ouch…" Yuya groaned, lying on the ground in pain while his right leg twitched a little.

Yasuko pops her head out from the door and calls out to Zuzu. "Hey Zuzu, I'm gonna post this on the Internet, and make you in the lists of duelist star couples." Yasuko's call has already made Zuzu's face flush even redder.

"Yasuko!" Zuzu shrieked. "You better not post all those on the Internet‼" Zuzu then runs off after Yasuko. She allows Zuzu to take her duel disk and deletes every picture Yasuko has taken on Yuya and herself.

"Gezz, what's wrong about posting this on the Internet, don't you want to acknowledge your relationship with Yuya?" Yasuko asked Zuzu while slouching against the wall.

"I have my right to disclose anything and you don't!" Zuzu yelled. "Serious, what is wrong with you?" Zuzu continues to delete all the pictures.

Yasuko gives a shrug. "I don't know, I guess I just enjoy watching drama stuff," Yasuko said. She could tell that Zuzu was, for sure, glaring back over her shoulder.

While Zuzu was fiddling with her duel disk, Yasuko glances at Henrietta with a careful eye. There is no doubt that everything she said about the LDS is true. The Leo Institute has the most powerful duelists in the school. The You Show are shorthanded on their strongest duelists and this was bad news for them. She thought that they have the potential in dueling, but after seeing Zuzu beaten by the LDS Fusion girl, there was no hope for the school when the final duel determines everything.

* * *

 **Hi, and thank you for reading this far into the story. I know it's a lot of words to read, but I usually try to make it less to make sure it makes sense for everyone. Anyways, I am not going to cover every duel without the audience of the character, so bear with me, only one more to go before my main event.**

 **So, I hope you enjoy reading this far, don't forget to give some opinions where I can improve, and stay tune for the next chapter ;)**


	11. Chapter 11: The Exoneration Duel Part 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the regular OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 11: The Exoneration Duel Part 3_

* * *

After the duel between Julia and Zuzu, the two schools are in a stalemate with one win and one loss between the two groups. Yasuko thinks that this duel will finish off the You Show for sure. She was looking at the boy who was standing across from the You Show students.

The duelist was slightly below-average height teen with long spiky brown hair and amber eyes. His canines appear to be longer than average and often stick out of his mouth. What's more noticeable to her was that he always carries a kendo sword.

" _So, their opponent this time is Yaiba Blade, another duelist from the LDS, eh...?"_ Yasuko thought after he introduces himself to the group. _"Yaiba... that means Katana…"_ she thought. "He said that he's a Synchro duelist, is he?" Yasuko inquired.

"Yeah," said Tate.

"That's interesting," Yasuko remarked. "Never thought I get to see both Fusion, Xyz, and Synchro at the same time; must be my lucky day." Zuzu and Yuya were standing together with the kids, Gongenzaka, and Sora who was sitting next to Yasuko.

She bites down an apple from her gym bag. "So, the score is currently even now, 1-1 to be exact," Yasuko pointed out, chewing her sweet red apple. "Since the last match was a total wash out, this match is going to be over before it began."

Zuzu got a depressed expression on her face since she had failed to settle everything in her match. Yuya placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled at her, and she returned the smile.

Gongenzaka clenched his fists in shame while he growled a little. "Oh man, I, Gongenzaka, wished she could get in there and get some revenge on the kid who did this to poor Zuzu, but… since Gongenzaka doesn't go to You Show, I can't step up and take the competition." He then bent down and looked at Sora, who was licking on a lollipop with a serious expression on his face. "Listen up now Sora; this is the moment of truth, a winner-go-home situation, so you have to win the next match and beat him!" Gongenzaka boosted.

Sora, on the other hand, had an uninterested expression on his face now. He was casually licking his lollipop while having second thoughts about the duel. "Hmmm, I'm kinda not feeling this whole thing anymore." He then pointed his lollipop towards Yasuko. "If you want to someone to take this next duel, then feel free to let Yasuko do it, she's a beauty when it comes to duels."

Yasuko had the same uninterested feeling on her face that matched Sora's. "I'll take that as a compliment," she deadpanned, "but no thanks. I'm not really into any pressuring situations." Yasuko chews her last bit of apple before throwing the apple like a basketball to the garbage bin. "So, why not you do it, Big Bushy Brows Gong?"

Gongenzaka stood up with a shocked expression on his face, "B-Big Bushy Brows Gong? Wait a moment; you're telling me to let me take this duel instead of you two?"

Yasuko stares back with an uninterested expression on her face. "Well, I kinda feel that this wouldn't be a good matchup with that guy," she said. "For instances…" Yasuko saw Yaiba making stretches with his kendo sword in the air, doing squats that are creeping Sora and Yasuko out.

"If you say it like that, then fine." Gongenzaka got a determined look on his face. "Leave it to me."

Yuya, who had heard all of this, walked over to Gongenzaka. "We're counting on you Gongenzaka." Gongenzaka turned around and looked at Yuya, who smiled at him. "But there's nobody in this world that I could trust other than my very best friend, and I know your dueling skills quite well, so I feel relieved that I can leave the final match to you."

Gongenzaka's eyes are brimming with comic tears of joy that are ready to burst out for his support. "Yuya…" he said with a lot of emotion. It was amazing how his reaction went from sappy to motivated. He got a determined look on his face as his intense fighting aura surrounded him like fire.

"Now, Gongenzaka's fired up!" he bellowed. "I'm hot as a jalapeño and a heat wave! Gongenzaka's gonna beat him like a base at homecoming! I swear on the name of the Gongenzaka Dojo's Steadfast Dueling Style that I am gonna win this duel!" Yasuko raised an eyebrow when Gongenzaka mentioned "Steadfast Dueling Style."

"What's a Gongenzaka Dojo's Steadfast Dueling Style?" she asked. Before he could even answer; however, they soon heard a voice speak to Gongenzaka.

"Hey! How long are you gonna make me wait?" Gongenzaka saw Yaiba, who had a moment ago had been stretching on the other side of the room, standing in front of him with his kendo sword over his shoulder, "I don't have all day, Big Brows, or are you chicken and just gonna let someone else do it, huh?"

"Smooth," Yasuko muttered.

Gongenzaka gritted his teeth so hard that it could break his jaw. "Unforgivable!" he shouted. "How dare you call the Great Gongenzaka a chicken and gets away with it! I will show you who's chicken…" He placed his silver Duel Disk on his arm and got into a fighting position, "Now, let's get dueling!"

Yaiba had his eyes closed while he had a smirk on his face, tapping his kendo sword lightly on his shoulder. "If you think, for one second, that I'm gonna roll over and lose like the wannabes from before? Grab a reality check, Big Brows." Gongenzaka looked at him confused when he said that. Yaiba then stares up at him. "Because unlike those other two, I'm quite strong, so I know what I'm doing."

Gongenzaka and Yabia both entered the duel arena while everyone—minus Yasuko—watched the intensity turned sky high with both martial art duelists stand in front of each other.

Shuzo thinks of the perfect field for the two duelists to fit in. " _So their opponent this time is Yaiba Blade eh..? Yaiba. Katana. Sword. "_ Shuzo thought to himself what will be perfect for the two of them. Then, when he combined Yabia's name and "Sword," there was a distinct ping that got him to think of the perfect field. "Yes, that's the one!" Shuzo pressed a button to activate the field.

"Action Field, on! Field Spell: Sword's Cemetery!" Shuzo called, activating the Action Field Spell; Sword Cemetery. The Stadium transforms into a barren wasteland surrounded by thousands of discarded katana sword designed as makeshift graves.

"Gongenzaka! Just like the Sword's Cemetery you see around you, you know what you need to do; bury your enemy's 'blade'!" Shuzo encouraged Gongenzaka from above.

Henrietta then reminded Shuzo about the end of the deal with a smirk if the outcome of the duel is final. "Hiiragi, don't forget your promise. If we win this duel, both the You Show Duel School and your star pupil, Yuya Sakaki, will become part of LDS! You're okay with this, right?" Henrietta reminded, much to Shuzo's annoyance as he gave a small frown.

"Correct, but if we win, you promise that you will never try to bother Yuya and interfere with the You Show Duel School ever again!" Shuzo demanded as the two board directors stared at each other. Like the two duelists on the field, the two schools are both expecting their students to win the duel, despite Gongenzaka being the student of the Gongenzaka Dojo and Yasuko not being their student.

The two duelists glared at each other, while everyone on the sidelines watched the third and final Action Duel.

"The stage is set, and the duelists are ready!" Shuzo exclaimed.

"Their monsters are about to put this graveyard back to life," Henrietta added.

"In this time-breaking battle—" Shuzo cheered.

"The winners takes it all, and the losers takes it all!" Henrietta added.

"It's time to witness the greatest evolution of dueling! Action…" Yuya and Zuzu chorused together.

"DUEL!" Yabia and Gongenzaka concluded with the start of their final duel.

 **DUEL**

 **Yabia: LP 4000**

 **VS**

 **Gongenzaka: LP 4000**

The bubble holding the Action Cards burst open in the air with all the Action card scattering all over the field, signifying the start of the duel. The first move goes to Gongenzaka who take the lead.

 **Turn 1: Gongenzaka (5x cards)**

"Gong will kick things off." Gongenzaka declared as he draws a card from his deck. "I draw! I'll take the first turn by summoning Superheavy Samurai Kabuto!" Gongenzaka Normal Summons **Superheavy Samurai Kabuto (ATK 1000/DEF 2000)** On his side of the field, a heavy looking Samurai appeared with its hammer prepared to battle. "I now end my turn with that!"

 **Turn 2: Yabia (5x cards)**

Yabia was disbelief that Gongenzaka summoned a monster that has only a less attack points. "Ha! You summoned a small fry with only a 1000 ATK points, and you end it right there?" Yabia taunted. "That's your big opening?"

"It's not the monsters that you use; it's how you use your monsters," Gongenzaka assured bravely. "Furthermore, powerful men don't waste time on pointless movements!"

Yabia only scoffs off his remark and continues to taunt him even more. "Ha, you're digging a hole for yourself, Big Brows!" Yabia draws a card. "I draw!" He looks at the card that he just drew and smirk that this is the card that he needs. "I'll start off this blow out by summoning XX-Saber Boggart Knight!" Yaiba called as he Normal Summon **XX-Saber Boggart Knight (ATK 1900/DEF 1000).** On the field, a monstrous warrior with a sword appears with sharp teeth and a pointy nose. "With this big bag Boggart on the field, I can get to summon a Level 4, or below X-Saber from my hand, so I get to Special summon the Level 3 Tuner Monster, XX-Saber Fulhelmknight in attack mode!" Yaiba called, Special Summoning **XX-Saber Fulhelmknight (ATK 1300/DEF 1000).** A young male warrior with long blonde hair with brown armor, a red cape and an energy whip attached to his right armed appeared on the field.

Yuya was surprised to see a Tuner monster appearing on his first turn. "A Turner Monster?" Yuya inquired.

"And it's a Level 3, which means…" Yasuko added.

"Gongenzaka activates Superheavy Samurai Kabuto's special ability!" Gongenzaka raised his hand to demonstrate what his monster can do. "Since you've summoned Fulhelmknight, Kabuto switches to defense mode and gains 500 DEF points!" The red samurai switches to defense with an extra defense boost.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Kabuto: DEF 2000** → **2500)**

Yasuko was confused about why the defense points would go up and be switched to defense position if it can't attack. "What the hell?" Yasuko inquired, looking at Gongenzaka with a raised eyebrow. "Why would Gong be switching his monster to defense mode if it can't attack?"

Yuya smiles at Yasuko and answers her question. "Oh, just you wait and see…" said Yuya.

"You've out-knighted yourself!" Gongenzaka cheered. "If you hadn't summoned that second one, you could've beaten my samurai!" He was smirking at Yabia that his monsters don't have enough attack points to destroy his samurai. "You start playing cute, and things are about to get real ugly fast, you keep that in mind."

"Nice work Gongenzaka, show him your steadfast dueling style!" Yuya cheered.

"Don't get too excited with that just yet," Yasuko interjected. "It's only gonna get worse."

"Ha!" Yabia jeered. "Steadfast my ass! My blade is so sharp that you can never weaver it down!" he scoffed at Gongenzaka's attempt to solidify his defenses. "I've got a surprise for you, genius!" Yabia pulls out a card to show him **XX-Saber Faultroll (ATK 2400/DEF 1800)**."Cause whenever I have two or more X-saber monsters on the field, I get to Special Summon XX-Saber Faultroll!" A warrior with black and orange armor with a giant sword and a red cape appeared on the field.

"Now Yabia's got three monsters on the field," Tate added.

"Amazing…" said Frederick, astonished by his abilities to summon three monsters on his first turn.

"Now here comes the cavalry," said Yasuko, knowing where this is going.

Yabia could only smirk with delight, seeing how one person knows what he is about to do next. "Yep and the cavalry is here!" Yabia held up his right hand in the air, "Now I tune my level 3 XX-Saber Fulhelmknight with my level 4 XX-Saber Boggart Knight!" Yaiba called as his Tuner Monster turned into three rings to scan Boggart Knight for a Synchro Summon. The rings turned Boggart Knight into four stars between the rings.

 **(3 + 4 = 7)**

" _Wielders of crossed blades of light, trample over this mountain of corpses_!" The rings started to turn into a beam of light. "I _**Synchro Summon**_! Come forth! Level 7! X-Saber Souza!" Yabia Synchro Summons **X-Saber Souza (ATK 2500/DEF 1600).** From the beam, a large grinning warrior in black armor with a red cape wielding two swords emerged from the beam with two akimbo swords ready to slash any enemies on Yabia's command. Everyone was shocked that Yabia had such a powerful monster in his deck.

"Wh-What the heck is that?" Frederick inquired.

"That would be a Synchro Summon," Yasuko answered. "You would need what you call a "Tuner" monster, which needs to "Tune" with the monster that is not a Tuner monster. So, to Synchro Summon a monster from your Extra Deck, the Tuner and the non-Tuner materials must be on the field with their levels adding up to the level of the monster in the Extra Deck."

Yuya looks over his shoulder to Yasuko. "So, what you're saying…is that he used a Level 3 Tuner monster and a Level 4 Non-Tuner monster to summon a Level 7 monster?" he puzzled.

"Correct," Yasuko remedied. "That is how you Synchro Summon."

"Damn right!" Yabia shouted. "And there's a lot more! Once per turn, X-Saber Faultroll can summon a level 4 or below X-saber from the graveyard," Faultroll uses his sword to stab it to the ground, "So I'm gonna call back X-Saber Fulhelmknight!" The blonde warrior returns to the field, surprising everyone in the room.

"With Fulhelmknight returning to the field and Faultroll being a Level 6, that could mean one thing," Yasuko speculated.

Yuya realized what Yasuko would mean and exclaimed in surprise, "He's gonna do another Synchro Summon!"

"You're right on the money!" Yabia cheered, raising his right hand again for his two monsters to take flight. "I tune my Level 6 Faultroll with my Level 3 Fulhelmknight!" Yaiba called.

Once again, the Tuner Monster made itself three rings, scanning Faultroll for another Synchro Monster. The monster disappears with only six stars gleaming in the rings.

 **(6 + 3 = 9)**

 _"Let your silver armor shine and crush the hope of everything that opposes you!"_ Yabia chanted as the rings burst into a beam. "I _**Synchro Summon**_! Come forth! Level 9! XX-Saber Gottoms!" Yabia Synchro Summons **XX-Saber Gottoms (ATK 3100/DEF 2600).** The beam shortly breaks apart for a masked warrior with a red cape in a light brown and silver armor to appear on the field while holding a large sword over his right shoulder.

"Gongenzaka's gotten his work cut out for him because it looks like Yabia is going to slice and dice his way to victory," Yuya said, concerned about his best friend with two Synchro monsters on the field.

With two Synchro monsters on Yabia's first turn, this has astonished the entire audience from You Show. They never thought that there was someone capable of making multiple Synchro Summons at the same time. "You don't stand a chance against me, Gongenzaka!" Yabia taunted. "When you lose, the LDS takes over You Show!"

"And Yuya," Yasuko reminded. "Don't forget Yuya; you win, and you get Yuya as a bonus."

Yuya looked shocked by her actions that made him turn to her direction to protest. "Whose side are you on!?" he shouted at Yasuko, who shrugged it off.

"I don't have a side; I'm just reminding him about the last part of the deal," she said.

"You should be more supportive to You Show and stop observing them," Zuzu retorted, seeing how Yasuko lacks any support for their school.

"I don't support or observe; I speculate," Yasuko answered, ignoring a despicable glare from Zuzu. "But you have to admit; he did manage to do two Synchro Summons on his first turn."

Yuya and Zuzu both turn back to the duel.

"Yeah, what a guy… to think he could instantly Synchro Summon two monsters in one turn," said Yuya. He looked at Gongenzaka with a troubled expression written on his face. "I just hope that Gongenzaka will be alright." From the way this duel is going, he now realized that Gongenzaka would have a difficult time beating this opponent.

Gongenzaka doesn't seem to be unfazed by this match; however, as he only glared at his confident opponent, who smirked.

"What's wrong? Too shocked to say anything, Big Brows?" Yabia taunted the big duelist, but he only rebukes back with a more different answer.

"You can run me down if you want to, but Gongenzaka doesn't do trash talk!" Gongenzaka pointed out. "Those who flap wildly can never achieve victory! And Gongenzaka uses his skills and monsters, not jaw bone!" His comment infuriates Yabia so much that he makes his first call to attack.

"You want skills and monster; I'll give you more than you can handle! A lot more!" Yabia shouted, glaring at Gongenzaka. "XX-Saber Gottoms attack Superheavy Samurai Kabuto!" Yabia points his finger at Gongenzaka's only monster with Gottoms.

Gottoms sent a blast from the top of his sword towards Kabuto and destroyed him while Gongenzaka gritted his teeth in anger. "Nice, huh?" Yabia commented. "My Gottoms always gets the job done, and the next job is you, X-Saber Souza!" He pointed at his next warrior. He jumps up in the air with two swords ready. "Attack this guy directly!" Gongenzaka is expecting the worse from this monster as he slashed his two swords to make a cross towards Gongenzaka. Gongenzaka held up his arms in front of him to block the attack that caused him to slide backward.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 4000** → **1500)**

Gongenzaka was still standing when the attack stops, but he suffered scratches all over his body caused by the attack. The kids, Yuya, and Zuzu were worried that he is not going to make it.

"2500 points of damage…" Tate breathed out of shock. "He took that attack like it was nothing…"

"But he's one tough cookie…" Frederick added.

"Whoa! That's hot-blooded!" Shuzo was amazed by Gongenzaka's strength to withstand that attack. "That's the heir of the You Show Duel School's rival, the Gongenzaka Dojo, for ya!" Shuzo complimented loudly.

However, Yaiba chuckled mockingly at this duelist's steadfast dueling style. "You guys are talking nonsense again." He then grabbed a card in his hand and placed it into his Duel Disk, "Now I place one card face down on my field and end my turn."

 **Turn 3: Gongenzaka (4x cards)**

"Alright, it's Gongenzaka's move!" Gongenzaka yelled before he drew his card. "I draw!" The wind blew when he drew the card, which seemed to be like a good draw for him. He glanced at it before he smiled, feeling confident with the card he drew.

Gongenzaka placed his drawn card to his hand and picked out a card. "Since you've got two monsters on the field, Gongenzaka can Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Scales!" Gongenzaka Special Summons **Superheavy Samurai Scales (ATK 800/DEF 1800)**. A gray and green machine monster with a scale in the form of a stick with a bowl on each side of it appears on the field. "And when this bad boy is special summoned, I can Special Summon a "Superheavy Samurai" from the graveyard!" Gongenzaka points at his green monster, who spins his staff that acts as a balance scale to revive Kabuto.

"But unfortunately, you won't be sticking around, 'cause I'm tributing you and Superheavy Scales to tip things at Gongenzaka's favor." Gongenzaka raised his hand to tribute Scales and Kabuto. "I now sacrifice both of my Superheavy Samurais to summon the Level 8 Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei in Defense Position!"

The two Superheavy Samurai's became two green pillars of light which merged to form a larger green pillar of light. From inside the light, a giant black samurai machine monster with a staff weapon comes out of the pillar, spinning its staff a few times before preparing to battle. Gongenzaka Advance Summon **Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei (ATK 1000/DEF 3500).**

"A Summon in face-up Defense Mode!?" Yaiba said in shock, seeing something like this for the first time. "That looks like it's a big waste of time!"

Yasuko had to agree with Yabia. Usually anyone would have to summon a monster face down in defense mode; however, Gongenzaka summoned this monster in Defense Postion. "What the hell is up with this guy?" Yasuko inquired. "Monsters who are summoned in Defense Position are always face down and yet, why is he summoning it face up?"

"True, but one of Big Benkei's power is that he can be summoned face-up in defense mode," Gongenzaka proves his point.

Yabia only shrugged it off. "Even so, what's the point of doing that if you can't save your friend's school?" he dared.

"To win without moving!" Gongenzaka declared. "That is the essences of my Gongenzaka Dojo's Steadfast Dueling Style!"

"To win…without moving?" Yasuko repeated what Gongenzaka said.

"Big Benkei take a slap and attack his XX-Saber Gottoms!" Gongenzaka declared, shocking Yabia and Yasuko.

"What, but Benkei's in Defense Position!" Yasuko exclaimed. "You can't do that, you big idiot!"

"Yeah, but Benkei's allow to attack even when it is in Defense Position!" Gongenzaka corrected. "And when it does, it's DEF points is used for battle!" Big Benkei rammed his fist into the ground, and an explosion split the ground which traveled towards Gottoms.

"So that's why the defense points are so high," Yasuko realized.

"Then that means—" Allie began.

"3500 vs. 3100," Tate added. "Big Benkei's gonna win!" The ground splits towards Gottoms, who was destroyed in the explosion.

"I've got goosebumps!" Frederick cried out loud.

Yabia was resilient to be back on the field, but the attack as taken him some damage.

 **(Yabia: LP 4000** → **3600)**

He was glaring at Gongenzaka with complete annoyance that Gongenzaka has attacked and destroyed his best monster while in Defense Position. Gongenzaka took a last look in his hand. He smirked confidently, believing that victory would be his soon now that he has all three cards needed on his next turn.

"I think that's enough hurting for now, so I end my turn with that!" Gongenzaka declared loudly.

 **Turn 4: Yabia (2x cards)**

"I'll show you hurting!" Yabia shouted before he draws a card from his deck. "I draw!" He look at his card before he picks out a card. "I summon XX-Saber Boggart Knight in attack mode!" He Normal Summons XX-Saber Boggart Knight. "When Boggart Knight's in the game, I can special summon a level 4 or below "X-Saber" monster" from my hand." Yabia picks out a card and Special Summons **XX-Saber Ragigura (ATK 200/DEF 1000).** "And XX-Saber Ragigura will give me the edge that I need!" A small chameleon creature with armor on its arms, legs and body with a red cape and double short swords appears beside **X-Saber Boggart Knight**.

"Ha-ha!" Frederick laughed. "He just summoned a lizard man with only 200 attack points."

Yasuko cuts his fun and points out something that made him worried. "No, that thing's got a special effect," said Yasuko.

"That's right, and when XX-Saber Ragigura is on the field, I can add a X-Saber from my graveyard to my hand," Yabia explained. His duel disk ejected the card that he needs. "I'm picking XX-Saber Faultroll!" He takes out the card, but he wasn't done. "And I get to summon Faultroll if there's two or more "X-Saber" monsters on the field," Yabia explained, Special Summoning **XX-Saber Faultroll**.

"And due to its special effect, I can summon another "X-Saber" monster from my graveyard Level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my Graveyard!" Yaiba explained, much to Allie's boredom.

"Huh?! Another Special Summon?" Allie asked with a frown.

"It's like he's playing with himself…" Frederick added out of boredom.

"And I bring back my XX-Saber Fulhelmknight!" Faultroll stabs his sword on the ground to resurrect **XX-Saber Fulhelmknight** once again.

Yasuko was napping a little bit against the wall and Sora was just casually licking on his lollipop while each of the kids have worried expressions on their faces. Frederick was holding his face. Allie gape at him. Tate was pointing at him.

"Don't tell me that he's gonna…" Tate hoped that this was not the move that Yabia was doing, but Yasuko opens her left eye and said, "He's gonna do another Synchro Summon."

Yabia smirked when Yasuko got it correctly. "You guessed it!" Yabia then raised his right hand in the air like the last time. "I tune my level 3 Fulhelmknight with my level 6 Faultroll!" Fulhelmknight became three green rings of energy. Faultroll flew inside of the rings and became six stars which then turned into a beam of light inside of the rings.

 **(6 + 3 = 9)**

" _With your platinum armor shining brightly, shatter the hopes of those who dare to rebel against you!_ I _**Synchro Summon**_! _Come, Level 9! XX-Saber Gottoms_!" Yabia Synchro Summons a second **XX-Saber Gottoms**.

"Really?" said Yasuko, irritated. "Another Gottoms? Doesn't this dude have any other monsters than the same ones?"

Yasuko frowned, but Yuya and Zuzu looked worried knowing how difficult it was to defeat Gottoms the first time.

"No way... The Gottoms he had just defeated..." Zuzu started. "And it can't be good news for Gongenzaka."

"That's true, but even so, Gottoms' ATK is 3100, so he's no threat to Big Benkei, which means Gongenzaka's safe and sound," Yuya assured.

Yabia started to run across the field. "We'll see about that!" He disagreed. Yabia whips his kendo sword out to let the winds gush around his area until it pushes up an Action Card. "But this will decide what happens right here!" Yaiba snatched the card from the air. He looked at it before he smirked at what the Action Card was.

"Alright! A card that can get me out of this mess! I activate the Action Magic: Extreme Sword!" Yaiba called, playing the Action Card: **Extreme Sword.** "And its extremely bad news for you 'cause with Extreme Sword, it can increase the ATK of one monster during battle by 1000!" Yaiba explained as he gave the power to Gottoms.

 **(XX-Saber Gottoms ATK: 3100** → **4100)**

He chuckled a bit, before he confidently prepared to attack. "You've got to love that about Action Duels. I attack Big Benkei with Gottoms!" Yaiba yelled, as he pointed to his target.

"Smash 'im to pieces!" Yaiba screamed as Gottoms blasted his sword's energy towards Big Benkei, causing a huge explosion to occur. This made Zuzu concerned, especially since Big Benkei was Gongenzaka's ace monster.

"Poor Big Benkei…" Zuzu started, until Yuya reminded her of another thing.

"But since it was in Defense Mode, so Gongenzaka won't take any damage even if it's destroyed!" Yuya assured.

"Guess again!" Yabia called. Yuya and Zuzu turn their heads to look at Yabia who proves his point. "I'm activating my Trap! Meteorain!" Yaiba plays his Trap card; **Meteorain**. "With this trap, when I attack a monster in Defense Position and my monsters got more attack points than your monster's defense points, you take the differences in damage!" Yaiba explained. "Here's what 600 points of damage feels like, Big Brows!" Gongenzaka held his arms in front of himself and brace for the shockwaves that are coming. He shielded himself from the shockwaves that turned into fire.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 1500** → **900)**

Everyone in the sidelines, except for Yasuko and Sora, gasped to see Big Benkei destroyed. The giant pillar of smoke stood on the spot where Gongenzaka and his monster were.

Yabia held a satisfying smirk on his face to see the outcome. When the smoke cleared to show, he was completely shocked that Big Benkei still on the field. This shocked Yaiba so much that he took a step back in surprise. "I-It's still here!?" he uttered. "But how!?" he asked. Gongenzaka smirked gratefully to explain how Big Benkei was still alive.

"When Big Benkei was attacked, I sent Superheavy Samurai Soulfire Suit from my hand straight to the Graveyard!" Gongenzaka explained. "By sending this card to the Graveyard for the rest of the turn, it negates the destruction of one Level 5 or higher Superheavy Samurai!" Gongenzaka explained, before he winced from the damage he had taken earlier.

"Tch... So, you sacrificed your hand to protect your ace monster, then...?" Yaiba scoffed in annoyance.

"But the monster with its destruction negated has its DEF lowered by 800!" Gongenzaka explained as Big Benkei's DEF points soon became weaker, making it an easy target for the X-Saber Synchro monsters.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei: DEF 3500** → **2700)**

"Ah! Its DEF points went down!" Allie cried out in dismay.

"That's fine! Its DEF points is still higher than Souza's ATK points," Tate assured.

"Not for long!" Yaiba grabbed his sword once again and swung out, sending another wind to get the Action Card flying up in the air; however, he gritted his teeth when he saw how it had landed close to Gongenzaka.

"Ah! An Action Card!" Allie cried out.

"Oh no!" Yabia gasped. "It's all the way over there!" Yaiba starts running towards the card to get it before Gongenzaka could pick it up.

Tate and Frederick watched as the card started to float closer towards Gongenzaka, as they believed Gongenzaka could grab it before Yabia could.

"It's right near Gongenzaka!" Tate started.

"Run for it! Gongenzaka!" Frederick cried out loud. They would expect the big man to run up and get the Action Card since it was so close to him, but he instead stands there like a statute.

"Gong ain't moving," Gongenzaka snapped, causing the two boys to let their jaws drop in shock.

"EHHH!?" The two yelped as Yaiba smirked, seeing his chance to grab his prize.

"If you don't take it, I will!" Yaiba cried as he leaps up in the air and snatched the Action Card with two fingers.

"Oh... He got it..." Allie said in worry, knowing that Gongenzaka could be in trouble now. And she was right. Yabia looks at the Action Card he just grabbed and, to his luck, was the same Action Card; **Extreme Sword.**

"Alright! How lucky and talented can I get! Time to activate Action Magic: Extreme Sword once again!" Yaiba called. "And my Souza gets an extra total of 1000 attack points." The two swords that Souza glows brightly and extended upwards to give it more edge.

 **(X-Saber Souza ATK: 2500** → **3500)**

"Souza, take out Big Benkei!" Yaiba called, as he pointed at the weakened Superheavy Samurai monster. Souza sent a slashing cross from his swords at Big Benkei and caused another massive explosion. The shockwaves ride faster than the winds that it was sure to be pushing Gongenzaka back, but he was still holding on as he withstands the explosion.

"Soulfire Suit's effect activates, protecting Big Benkei from being destroyed!" Gongenzaka cried out loud.

"Yeah, so what!" Yabia scoffed. "You'll still be taking damage from Meteorain's effect, Big Brows! This time, it's 800!" Yaiba reminded arrogantly as he gave off an overconfident smile. This time, the blast was so powerful that it's finally sends Gongenzaka off the ground and crashed him against the dirt.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 900** → **100)**

Everyone on the sidelines except Sora, Yasuko and the LDS members, gasped in shock to see Gongenzaka being taken down by the Synchro Duelists and his X-Saber monsters.

"Gongenzaka..." Zuzu said in shock. Yabia could only chuckle at his suffering.

"Not only did you lose 800 life points, but your Big Benkei loses another 800 DEF points Yaiba mockingly asked, as he knew perfectly of what the Suit's side effect was for invincibility.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei: DEF 2700** **1900)**

"Yeah... But now that the battle is over, Gottoms and Souza's ATK returns to normal!" Gongenzaka reminded the Synchro student as he was right when the two X-Saber Synchro monsters' ATK both returned to normal.

 **(XX-Saber Gottoms: ATK 4100** **3100)**

 **(X-Saber Souza: ATK3500** **2500)**

Gongenzaka stood weakly back up. His muscles are starting to ache from all the damage that he took. The scratches on his face and uniform are proof of his breaking point.

"You only survive because of your monster's abilities from your hands," Yabia taunts Gongenzaka. He made a laugh out of his mouth. "Ha, that's just a small-minded strategy I expect from a big oaf like you," he continues to taunt the big guy, but he doesn't seem to be bothered by it. He stands strong and assures to Yabia.

"It all means that the deck I believe in save me!" Gongenzaka reassured.

"So then, I'll just have to arrange and change that. I tribute Boggart Knight to activate Gottoms' special ability!" On his word, Boggart Knight turns itself into a purple energy mist and flies straight to Gongenzaka's hand.

One of the cards glows while Gongenzaka looks on. "Huh, what the?" Gongenzaka gasped.

"Oh no, his hand!" Frederick wheezed, pressing his face against the window.

Because of Gottom's special effect, Gongenzaka was forced to discard **Superheavy Samurai Soul Big Bang** to the graveyard. When he discarded the card, Yabia made a loud chuckle.

"I've got more bad news for you." Gongenzaka looks at Yabia with a more worried expression when Yabia called. "I'm tributing my Ragigura to activate Gottoms' special ability again!" Like Boggart Knight, the chameleon warrior turns into purple mist energy that flies to the last card in Gongenzaka's hand; **Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor.** Because of Gottom's effect, Gongenzaka was forced to discard the last card to the graveyard.

"You were betting it on your hand, Big Brows!" Yabia called to Gongenzaka. "And it's all gone! Your Superheavy strategy is owned!" Yabia sets a face-down card that signifies the end of his turn.

 **Turn 5: Gongenzaka (0 Cards)**

Yasuko could only watch how helpless Gongenzaka becomes when he loses his life points. Her emotionless eyes observe the duelists. The pupils have shown no concern or any remorse for Gongenzaka. He's faltering further down to defeat. Yasuko should be feeling sympathy for the guy because he's risking the entire You Show Duel School in his hands, but she isn't. There wasn't anything she should feel.

"What should he do? How can he win if he doesn't have any cards in his hand?!" Allie whined in worry.

"If he had just taken that Action Card when he had the chance..." Tate sighed.

"Yeah! Why didn't he go for it!? It's so weird, it's giving me the shivers!" Frederick asked, now frustrated with how Gongenzaka is dueling.

"That's just how he always duels," Yasuko sudden burst has caused the three kids to look at Yasuko. "I guess he was following a certain code of dueling that the school taught him," Yasuko assumed that this is how Gongenzaka has always dueled. "So Big Bushy Brows' following the exact same technique that his school taught him."

"You're wrong about that one, Yasuko," Yuya suddenly called out. Yasuko and the rest of the You Show students turn their head to stare at Yuya, who always staring at the duel. "It's true that this is how Gongenzaka duels, but he doesn't duel from what the school teaches him," said Yuya. "He duels in what he believes in."

"He duels...in what he believes in?" Yasuko repeated. "He doesn't duel based on what the school taught him?"

Yuya nodded. "There are duel schools teaching people how to duel, but specifically, from where Gongenzaka is learning, they teach their students to use the decks they build to believe in, just as how me and everyone else here uses their decks they believe in," Yuya explained, much to Yasuko's astonishment.

Dueling by believing in the decks the duelist has made was a new lesson to Yasuko. She has never heard of dueling by believing in the power of the deck. Her deck wasn't always important to her at first, but coming from Yuya, she thinks that they could be some value to her someday.

"Believing in your duel?" Yasuko said to herself.

Back to the duel, Gongenzaka has no cards in his hands and that just leaves his Big Benkei defenseless against the X-Saber warrior. Gongenzaka placed his fingers on his deck.

"It's my turn!" he declared. "And you are...going down!" His draw created another shockwave when he drew his next card and looked at it. His mouth curved to a smirk when he saw the card.

"I summon the impenetrable Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall!" Gongenzaka Normal Summons **Superheavy Samurai Soulshield Wall (ATK 1200/DEF 1200).** "And I'm equipping it to Big Benkei, giving him a 1200 defense point boost!" Thebig green mechanical shield monster jets itself in the air before landing at Big Benkei's hands. It attaches itself and gives a defense boost.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei: DEF 1900** → **3100)**

Yabia can only scoff at Gongenzaka for boosting his monster back to its original defense points. "You summon a monster that can power up another monster?" He said. "You really got lucky." He complimented. However, Gongenzaka can only glare at his opponent.

"Luck has nothing to do with being able to draw that monster," he rebuked, "because it's all a part of my plan." Gongenzaka looks at Yabia with such determination that made his eyes glow fire. "But now, the time for talk is over! Big Benkei attack X-Saber Souza!" The mechanical samurai rammed his shield covered arm into the ground and once again caused a massive explosion that cracked the ground opened and traveled towards Souza who got caught in the explosion. The explosion destroyed Souza and creates a powerful shockwave that forces Yaiba to cover his face,

 **(Yabia: LP 3600** → **3000)**

"Sweet!" The three kids cheered.

"That's it, Gongenzaka!" Yuya cried, encouraging his childhood friend to fight on.

Yabia manages to recover from the shockwave and glares annoyingly at Gongenzaka. "Now you've done it..." he growled. "You worthless cow!" Yabia activates a face-down card; **Gottoms' Emergency Call.** "I play the trap! Gottoms' Emergency Call! When there's a "X-Saber" on the field, it calls out two more "X-Saber" monsters from the graveyard. So welcome back, X-Saber Souza and X-Saber Ragigura!" From the sky, a black portal appears in front of Yabia and two monsters, **X-Saber Souza** and **X-Saber Ragigura** were resurrected.

"And with Ragigura's special ability, I return Faultroll back to my hand!" The duel disk ejects the level 6 monster for Yabia to collect.

 **Turn 6: Yabia (0x card)**

The duel is growing more intense with each turn passing by. The You Show students watched so closely that they're all at the edge of the window to see closely.

Sora, on the other hand, seemed to have given up hope on Gongenzaka as he sighed in boredom. "With his Life Points at 100 and his hand at zero, Gon-chan doesn't have the chance to win, does he?" Sora asked with a sigh.

"Yep," Yasuko added. "He can't defend himself if he has no cards in his hand to use Benkei's special ability, let alone that monster can do anything."

Yuya disagreed; however, making his argument about the win or loss. "No... It's not over yet." Yuya said, catching Yasuko and Sora's attention. "He hasn't given up yet," Yuya assured.

"It's my turn!" Yabia declared, drawing a card from his deck. "Draw!" Yaiba called, as he prepared to make his move. He did so, by showing Gongenzaka his Faultroll. "Hey! You remember what this card can do?" Yaiba asked as the Steadfast Duelist frowned. "I do...since you've got a squad of X-Saber monsters on your side of the field, you can automatically Special Summon it from your hand..." Gongenzaka said, recalling its effect.

"I'm glad to see you paying attention!" Yabia remarked, Special Summoning XX-Saber Faultroll. "Come on out Faultroll!" The same red warrior appears in the field with the rest of the X-Sabers. "Now Faultroll's special abilities activate! I can summon one Level 4 or below "X-Saber" monster from the graveyard." The red warrior monster stabs his sword on the ground to resurrect an "X-Saber" monster. "Say hello to the Tuner monster; XX-Saber Fulhelmknight!" The blonde warrior returns to the field. This move was very irritating to Yasuko because she's seen this over again.

"Okay, so he's got two level 6 monsters, a level 1 monster, and a level 3 tuner monster," Yasuko explained. "It looks like he's going to be doing another Synchro Summon."

"You'd bet ya!" Yabia glanced at the girl before he focused back at Gongenzaka. "Level 3 Fulhelmknight tunes with level 6 Faultroll!" Fulhelmknight transforms into three rings again like the last time and Faultroll enters the rings that disappear into six stars gleaming together to form a beam of light to Synchro Summon XX-Saber Gottoms.

"It's a double showing of the X-Saber's strongest, Gottoms! Enjoy it while it lasts!" Yaiba yelled as the summoning was done. _"I_ _ **Synchro Summon**_ _! Come forth! Level 9! XX-Saber Gottoms!"_ Yaiba yelled.

A third Gottoms appears on the field with the second Gottoms. The two identical monsters have hardened Yabia's offensive. "I use X-Saber Souza's special ability to tribute Ragigura!" Yabia called, causing the chameleon warrior to disappear. Gongenzaka got a confused look on his face when he saw Ragigura disappear and Yaiba closing his eyes with a smirk on his face.

"You don't have any idea, do ya? But you will." Yabia then pointed his finger at the big monster. "X-Saber Souza take out that Super-Lightweight Big Benkei!" His move shocked the kids.

"But Souza is weaker than Benkei!" Tate pointed out. "Why would he use Souza to attack Big Benkei when he has lower attack points?" He asked why would Yabia be attacking a monster with a weaker monster.

"Because that tribute has activated some special ability," Yasuko answered, speculating that by sacrificing Ragigura, it has triggered an ability that Souza hasn't used.

"You bet the money it did!" Yabia agreed. "By getting rid of Ragigura, my Souza is enabled to automatically destroy any monster in battle."

"What!?" Allie, Tate, and Frederick all gasped together.

"It can destroy it without caring about its ATK!?" Frederick cried out in shock.

"Now I gonna cut your Superheavy Super star down to size!" Yabia's monster leaps up in the air and falls to use his two swords to slash the mechanical samurai. Before the monster could slice the monster, Gongenzaka uses his ace-in-the-hole.

"I activate Soulshield Wall's special ability!" Gongenzaka declared, holding the monster card in front of him. "By sending him to the graveyard, I can stop your attack by making all the defense the monster is equipped to…disappear!" As Gongenzaka said, the shield vanishes from the Big Benkei, thus negating Souza's attack

"Damn it! But, even if you negate one attack, without its DEF points, it's nothing!" Yaiba snapped before he pointed out the flaw on the Steadfast Duelist's strategy.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei: DEF 3100** → **0)**

The effect of Soulshield has negated the attack points, but that leaves Benkei vulnerable since all of its defense points is drained.

"And since Benkei lost all of its defense points, that means Yabia's going to attack," Yasuko pointed out.

"That's right!" Yabia exclaimed. "I'll reduce your life to shreds with my two remaining Gottoms! I attack Big Benkei with first of my Gottoms!" Yaiba announced confidently, before targeting the giant monster again. This was all over for Gongenzaka; however, he was expecting something like this to happen.

"I was hoping that you would do something like that!" Gongenzaka declared. "I activate my Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor's special ability from my graveyard!"

"What!? Activate from your Graveyard!?" Yaiba gasped as the card was out of the Graveyard. He widened his eyes at the card Gongenzaka pulled out and shows him his **Superheavy Samurai Soulbreaker Armor.** It was clear to Yabia that he recognized that card from before.

"That Card, it was…" Yabia didn't need to finish because the answer was already clear to him.

"That's right!" Gongenzaka corrected. "It's the exact same card you used Gottoms' special ability on to send it to the graveyard! And you doing that is what unleashed its truly awesome power! When there are no Spell or Trap Cards in my Graveyard, by banishing it, I can deal the difference from the current DEF and the original DEF of an attacked monster to my opponent!" Gongenzaka explained loudly.

"What!?" Yabia gasped in shock.

The kids stood there in shock as they let what Gongenzaka had just said sink in about the effects of Soulbreaker Armor.

"And now it's on 0!" Frederick pointed out.

"So that means... with 3500 points of damage..." Allie realized as the three kids knew what this meant.

"Gongenzaka will win!" The three kids shouted together, which caused Sora to widen his eyes. His shock was so strong that he dropped his lollipop that breaks on the ground. Yasuko was surprised as well. She never knew why would Gongenzaka be using a deck that doesn't have any spell or trap cards, but the style of his dueling made her realized how dueling with a deck that a duelist builds gives incredible results.

"No way…" Sora breathed.

"Wow," Yasuko said blankly, but still impressed. "I can't believe that this is how he duels. To think anyone who duels with no Spell or Traps is actually impressive in my book," she complimented.

"That's is how Gongenzaka use his Steadfast Dueling Style." Yuya's announcement has made Sora and Yasuko turn to him, staring at him.

Yuya held a confident smile on his face that shows his support for his best friend. "His strategy worked out perfectly. In order to use that effect, there cannot be any Spell or Trap cards in the Graveyard," Yuya explained more about Gongenzaka's dueling style. "That's why he packed his deck full of monsters." This caused Yasuko's eyes to widen, surprised than ever.

"A Full Monster Deck?" Yasuko inquired. "I didn't think that there is a deck that uses only monsters." Yasuko then recalled the moment when the Action Card flew by, but Gongenzaka didn't go for the Action Card. "I see now, so that's why he didn't grab that Action Card earlier." She looked back to the duel. "It was checkmate."

Gongenzaka nodded his head to confirm. "That's right, after all, action cards are a type of spell cards that I don't need in my deck," said Gongenzaka. "Do you see now? This is the true essence of Steadfast Dueling!"

Four pink glowing energy balls floats beside the armored samurai before the monster sends all four orbs to Yabia. As fast as a bullet, they streak through the air, leaving a trail of pink behind.

"Well, not all Spell Cards are bad news," Yabia remarked before activating a Quick-Play Spell Card; **Saber Reflection.** "I play Saber Reflection!" Yabia declared. When the spell card was activated, a blue sphere barrier appears around Yabia and his monster, defending him from the four pink orbs that would've hit him.

"Oh no!" Yuya gasped in horror, pressing his face against the glass. "That negates the damage that he would've taken and Gongenzaka is going to take the damage instead!"

"It's over, Big Brows!" Yabia cheered. The blue sphere barrier sprouts out a big blue beam that streaks across the field and toward Gongenzaka. Before the beam could make a direct hit, Gongenzaka uses his last trump card.

"Good Heavens!" Gongenzaka snapped before he became serious once again. "I activate Superheavy Samurai Soul Bang Cannon's special ability!" Gongenzaka pulled out another monster from his Graveyard; **Superheavy Samurai Soul Bang Cannon.**

"Another card that I had sent to the Graveyard!?" Yaiba gasped.

"If there are no Spell or Trap Cards in my Graveyard, by banishing this card, I can negate damage from an opponent's card effect!" Gongenzaka explained, as the Cannon monster appears and absorb the energy beam.

"Argh! He negated the damage that I reflected!?" Yaiba snapped, as the Steadfast Duelist smirked.

"That's not all! Furthermore, all monsters on the field gets destroyed now and we both take damage equal to the total of level time 100!" Gongenzaka explained the side effect of this card, shocking everyone in the school.

"Each Gottoms are level 9, and Souza is a level 7 along with Benkei a level 8, add all those up, and you get—" Yasuko interpreted the amount of damage is total to both players.

"33!" Yabia finished. "But that means—"

Gongenzaka looked up and smirked at the total of damage they all take. "3300 points of damage!" he remarked.

Soul Bang Cannon goes static with all electricity running on it before the monster made a huge explosion. The blast was so bright and powerful that it vaporized all the monsters on the field, blinding everyone who was watching the duel and sends both duelists off the ground from the shockwaves.

"AAARRRGGHHH!" Both duelists screamed as they were smashed to the ground by the explosion. Everyone watched as the smoke cleared, with both duelists defeating each other.

 **(Yaiba: LP 3300** → **0)**

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 100** → **0)**

 **WINNER: DRAW**

Both duelists were knocked unconscious while the spectators take in on the duel. Everyone was silent. No one said a word about what has happened.

"It's a draw?" Allie inquired.

The field disintegrates into thin air, returning to the same stadium that started the Duel. Yuya immediately got out and hurried to Gongenzaka who was still lying on the ground.

"The results are one win, one lost, and one draw," Shuzo speculated. He stares down at Henrietta at the audience window. "Madam Chairwoman Akaba, the deal was that you take over the school if you beat us in a three-match contest, but the results are a draw so please retire for the day…" Shuzo hoped that Henrietta can at least forfeit the duel until another time can break the draw, but she wasn't buying it. Her face was scowling at the principal.

"What are you talking about?" Henrietta lifts her head up to look directly at his eyes. "This Duel is about settling the score. A contest can't be decided by a draw…"

"It was a tie!" Shuzo protested. "The Duel is over!"

"The dude's right," Yasuko announced. "There's no point in making it personal lady, just let it go…"

"I refuse!" Henrietta snapped. "And since this is a draw, there can be only one way to settle this." When Yuya and Gongenzaka returned to the observation room, he walked forward, having to pull down his goggles over his eyes and placed his hands in his pockets.

Yasuko looked at him, knowing that he must be pretty upset over the beat-up condition Gongenzaka.

Henrietta got a smile on her face. "Well looks like you're ready to settle this, then we shall too…" However, just as Julia stepped forward, a voice stopped her.

"Wait!" All of them saw how a young man with a black jacket walks out to reveal himself. He had a hood on before he pulled off the hood to reveal his silver hair and purple eyes. He was wearing red-rimmed square glasses. "I'll be the one who's gonna settle the score with him," he announced.

Yuya silently turns around to confront the man who was staring down at him. The tension was mounting just by staring at each other. Yasuko couldn't see his eyes because of the stare, but from how his post was standing in front of this mysterious man, all she could think of was the duel between two schools is about to get more intense.

* * *

 **Alright, I know how impatient you are with this story if you've managed to get this far, but I will assure you, everyone will get their fair share of Duels. I just need to make one perfectly accurate and in motion.**

 **So for the next chapter, I know what you're expecting and yes it will happen in the next chapter. I just need a little more time with it. Not lot of duelists get a lot of cards except for protagonist and rivals. I hoped you are enjoying this story so far and don't forget to give some opinons on this one.**


	12. Chapter 12: Hidden Power Unleashed

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 12: Hidden Power Unleashed; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Declan Akaba_

* * *

The same young man who appeared before the You Show Duel School had just challenged a match with Yuya. Nobody doesn't know about this guy who just showed up. For some reason, Yasuko was feeling a strong aura from this guy. He was very different than the rest of the LDS students. The image of him staring at Yuya made Yasuko glare at him slightly, a glare looking like she was determined to do something about this guy.

The students were looking at Yuya, who was unresponsive to Declan's challenge. They were worried about how Yuya is feeling with this strange man is challenging Yuya when he knows their school is at the line.

"Poor Yuya," Allie said. "He must be in a nervous wreck."

"If he doesn't win…" Frederick began, and Tate finishes the last part of the sentence. "Our school's theirs."

Zuzu was staring at her childhood friend with concern. She is worried that Yuya could be feeling the pressure weighing down on him. "Yuya…" said Zuzu.

Gongenzaka was looking at Yuya with disgrace in his face. He felt guilty that this was all his fault for not trying hard enough. "I'm sorry Yuya, I've tried my hardest, but I wasn't enough to be," Gongenzaka pleaded. "Now all the pressure is all on one duel, and it comes to you…"

Yasuko looks at Yuya. She couldn't be sure if he were feeling hurt, upset, or even troubled that this is now all in him. Yasuko was starting to see the way how You Show have dueled. There is strong opposition to what the Leo Institute does that the school is against. Unlike You-Show, who would want to teach, the Leo Institute seizes everything that is deemed worthy to their cause and would do anything in their power to get Pendulum Summon and turn it into profit for their benefits. You-Show isn't much, but they are quite gifted thanks to Yusho and his peers. They deserve to be more than that. This is their school, and they're not going to give it up regardless. She can't let that happen.

"Can I have something to say about this matter," Yasuko called to everyone in the room. They all turn their heads to Yasuko who raised her hand in the air. "I shall Duel in Yuya's place…For the You-Show Duel School."

Everyone got shocked so hard that the jaws may be look broken. The You-Show students and Gongenzaka had their jaws open wide and gaped by her declaration. Even the Leo Institute students are all surprised by this.

Henrietta, on the other hand, was intrigued that Yasuko was displaying something noble.

"I'll say this again... I'll take over Yuya's place and Duel him," Yasuko declared, pointing to her opponent. While everyone except Henrietta was shocked, the mysterious man, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow out of interest by her sudden decision to challenge him.

"Since I was involved in the tag team duel, I think it's fair that I duel him because I was the one who escalated it too far," Yasuko clarified to the students of You Show. She then turns back to Yuya. He blinked in surprise under his goggles.

"If there is a problem that nobody can't solve, then it's my job to solve this mess for them." She turned around and faced Yuya. "Is it alright if I take your place in this duel?" Yasuko asked.

The others watched for Yuya's response to her. He stared at her blue eyes with his red ones. He wanted to say no and decline her to duel in his place, but there was something that didn't let him do so. She was starting to be nice for once a change, well, a little.

Everyone was waiting anxiously for Yuya's response. He stays there, staring at Yasuko until Yuya's mouth turned to a smile that shows her his support for her decision to duel Declan. "Alright then, I'll leave the rest to you," he declared.

"Okay then," Yasuko nodded.

She turns to the gray-haired man. "Will that be alright with you, mister?" she asked if the man agrees with her request. She waited patiently for the man to respond. His purple eyes stare collectively at her blue eyes. His long unresponsive face was a show that she'd be expecting him to decline her offer to duel him; however, something changed inside of him.

"I suppose it's for the best," he said calmly, much to everyone's surprise especially Henrietta.

"So, is that a yes?" Yasuko inquired, which the man nodded in agreement.

"But if you duel me, then you know the terms of the duel, right?" he asked.

"Of course, you win, and the LDS gets You Show; I win, and you leave them alone," Yasuko verifies the terms of the duel.

"Alright, this is going to be good," Tate cheered.

"Your team is strong, but you haven't seen what Yasuko can do," Frederick added.

"With Yasuko on our side, there's no way we can lose," Allie agreed.

"She's going out all the way. The Duel sch—" Before Tate could even finish the sentence, the magenta-haired woman interrupted him.

"You children are incredibly naïve." Yasuko turns her head to glare slightly at the woman. "You think your new friend has what it takes to stand against her opponent?" Henrietta challenged the students, who did not reply. "You have no idea just how strong Declan is."

Like a cat twitching its ears to hear the sound from a distant, Yasuko could've sworn that the woman mentioned the name, Declan. Her eyes widened slightly, looking at the woman with a bizarre expression. She turned her head to face her opponent. If what Henrietta said about the man is true, then this young man standing before her is the CEO of the Leo Corporation Yasuko researched earlier when she was in town.

Her mouth forms a thin line, preventing it from opening it when she realized that her opponent is going to be unlike any of the top-tier duelists from the Leo Institute. The calm face on him shows just how observant he is to her. She needs to be extra careful with this man. "So, shall we begin?" Yasuko asked.

"Lets," Declan replied. "The time for talk is over. I want everyone here to remain silent and watch."

"Yes, I don't like any cheering coming from all of you," Yasuko agreed. "It's the actions of our decks that counts, not with words."

Yasuko and Declan enter the duel arena with their duel disks on. Yasuko's green duel disk remains fast in her left arm just like Declan's pure white duel disks. Neither one of them makes a sudden movement, leaving their eyes to stare at their opponents.

Declan was studying her like she was a rare animal as Yasuko studied Declan back from head to toe like a cop was inspecting him. His jacket was removed to show a very long red scarf around his neck with the navy-blue sweater and white jeans that stops above his ankles. His shoes were ankle sized, which reveal much of the ankle.

" _Declan was just around my age when he earned the pro duelist title. Not to mention that he is also the current CEO of the Leo Corporation."_ She reminds herself who she is facing. An opponent who has earned the title of being a professional duelist at a young age and becoming the CEO takes a lot of work and mind to get into a position of power.

" _Considering that this may be my miserable mistake in taking Yuya's place to duel someone who knows all about the special summons, I must be on my toes,"_ she thought. " _I have to be very careful with what he does."_

Yasuko's glare narrows even further. She breathes in as much air as she could to cool her head from overthinking before exhaling out heavily. Her expression starts to grow calmer, but she still had the same glare on her face. She's going in for a long duel with this guy.

Everyone in the watch room starts to notice a reaction from Yasuko. They spotted her fist clenching so tight that her knuckles turned white. They grew even concern when Yasuko's eyes are scowling at Declan. "I've never seen Yasuko reacting this way," Allie said, worried over Yasuko's behavior. "She's starting to look scary."

Zuzu holds Allie like she was a lost child and looks concern too. Zuzu stared at Yasuko, and not once did she see Yasuko grew so angry. "Don't worry Allie, she'll be okay," she reassured to the red-haired girl.

Gongenzaka does not like where Yasuko is at. "I hope so," he said. "From what she's thinking, I'd say that she's completely focused on him."

Without making a delay, Yasuko calls up to Declan. "So, which field shall we duel? Because I don't know what to decide."

"You're free to pick," Declan replied.

Yasuko scratched her head to think of what kind of field should they all duel. There are so many kinds of Action Fields that her head couldn't decide which one. Yasuko turned to the audience in the watch room. "Hey, you guys, I can't think of which one, so do a vote and call it for me."

The You-Show students were confused with Yasuko's request to make a vote among themselves to see which map is suitable. They never knew which one of the Action fields are her specialty. They didn't even know what kind of Acton field would be better for Yasuko.

"Uh…" Allie began. "You want us to choose?"

"Yep."

"Umm…" Tate was uncertain about letting them vote for Yasuko. "Well… it's just…"

"We don't know which field you'd like the best," Frederick added.

Giving a heavy sigh to the indecisive vote over the field, Yasuko turns to the Mr. Shuzo at the controls room. "Mr. Hiiragi, can you please choose a field that is suitable for parkour."

"Parkour?" Shuzo repeated. He knew about parkour, the free-running training where people dodge objects while running and moving from one location to another as fast as possible. She wants him to choose a field that is suitable for parkour. The teacher looks at his duel disk. He was concern who Declan is and who Yasuko is dueling.

" _Does this girl have any idea who she's up against?"_ He saw the photos of the younger Declan with his duel disk in the past headlines in tournaments, holding rewards, trophies, and recent inauguration certificate of his status as the new CEO.

" _She's dueling against a pro... He even earned the qualifications of a pro at a very young age, so this girl needs something to her advantage to save the Duel School Alright, let's see now. Parkour...parkour…parkour…"_ Shuzo thought what kind of fields that can use parkour. An idea came to his head like a bell and thought of one area that can match an environment that requires a lot of movement.

" _I've got it!"_ Shuzo stands from his stand to announce the field that is best suitable in parkour. "Get set to duel to the big top! I activate the Action Field Spell, Battleship's Graveyard!"

With the push of a button, the field changes to the Action Field Spell; **Battleship Graveyard** , illuminating the sky crystal blue and the ground shifting to have so many discarded or destroyed battleships to the field. The field forms so many warships that could stretch for miles with pieces missing. All forms of battleships: cruisers, destroyers, frigates, and even an aircraft carrier, were all cramped together in one shipyard.

Declan and Yasuko stand on top of an aircraft carrier, never leaving the glares off form each other. Surrounded by rows of battleships, the duel could get interesting.

"A shipyard, huh?" Yasuko inquired. "Now that's interesting." She surveys the area around her, seeing how many sunken battleships there are. The field is perfect to her taste. She is going out in her parkour training and dueling at the same time.

"Let's get this duel going," Yasuko declared. She activates her duel disk, and the deck pops out with the blue disk blade forming in front of her. She stands ready and waiting for Declan. He takes his duel disk in front of him and a crimson red disk blade forms from the white duel disk. One thing that made Yasuko raise her eyebrows is that the red blade is in the shape of a parallelogram instead of a rectangular angle.

"Duelists locked in battle!" Zuzu started the chant.

"Kicking against the earth and dancing in the air alongside with their monsters!" Tate chanted.

"They storm through the field!" Frederick added.

"Behold! The newest and the greatest generation of Dueling is here!" Allie joined. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Declan Akaba: LP 4000**

 **VS**

 **Yasuko Yukihana: LP 4000**

"DUEL!" Declan and Yasuko exclaimed together.

The bubble holding the Action Cards burst open with a loud pop. Action cards spread everywhere on the field, signifying the beginning of the long duel that will determine the fate of the You-Show Duel School. They draw five cards in their hand and waits to see who will go first in the match.

"Since you've allows us to choose a field, why not you go first?" Yasuko offered, holding a hand to the young man.

Declan looked offended by Yasuko's generosity. "You expect me to believe you're doing me a favor?" he questioned.

"Not really," Yasuko answered. "I'm just giving you a head start." Declan made a small laugh that causes Yasuko to frown at him. "Find that funny?"

"Nah, its nothing," Declan dismissed. "I just think that this is how you do…" Yasuko's frown gets even narrower to where she is scowling back. She watched him adjusted his red rectangular glasses. "Alright then, I shall accept your offer. I'll be going first."

 **Turn 1: Declan (5x cards)**

Instead of drawing, he immediately starts his move with one card from his hand."To begin, I shall activate three Spell Cards from my hand." Declan announced. "First is this one…" Instead of drawing a card from his deck, Declan picks out a card from his hand. "This legal binding contract is a Continuous Spell Card called Dark Contract with the Gate!" Declan places the card in his duel disk to activate the Continuous Spell card; **Dark Contract with the Gate**. "This spell card deals me 1000 points of damage at the beginning of my next Standby Phase," he explained.

Yasuko's eyes narrow suspiciously. Unlike her reaction, everyone else was shocked that Declan activated a card that deals himself damage.

"So, on his next turn…" Zuzu began.

"He takes 1000 points of damage?" Gongenzaka finished.

"That doesn't make any sense," Zuzu confirmed.

"Yeah, it's like he's trying to throw the duel away when it's just started," Gongenzaka added.

"However, there is a benefit." Declan begins to explain the card's effect. "Once per turn, I can add one "D/D" monster that is Level 4 or below from my deck to my hand." A card pops out of his deck and Declan takes it to show Yasuko what kind of card he just drew; **D/D Cerberus**. "I'll add D/D Cerberus to my hand."

Fredrick was confused with the cards they Declan is using. "D/D?" he repeated.

"It stands for "Different Dimension"…" Sora revealed to him. All the kids watched him with surprise in their faces. "It also means alternate plane; those cards are out of this world."

"For my second move, I will activate this Spell card." Declan picks out another spell card and plays it on the field. To everyone's shock, it's the same spell card that Declan used earlier. "It's the same spell card from before." Declan activates another **Dark Contract with the Gate**.

Yasuko could tell that it's getting a lot more suicidal with those cards. "But if you do that, you'll receive 2000 points of damage," she informed him.

"Which is why I play it so that I can add another "D/D" monster that is Level 4 or below," Declan reminded. Another card pops out again, and Declan takes the card to show Yasuko the monster. "In this case, the monster I add to me hand is D/D Lilith." He adds **D/D Lilith** to his hand and takes out his third spell card. "And for my third, I activate the Continuous Spell Card; Dark Contract with the Swamp King." Declan plays **Dark Contract with the Swamp King** on the field. "And like all my other "Contract" spells, once per turn, I get hit with 1000 points of damage during my next Standby Phrase."

Yasuko looks at all three spell cards. She realizes that for every 1000 points of damage in his next Standby Phase, Declan gets to pick any D/D monster that is level 4 or below, but what made her wonder was the third spell card.

"Three "Dark Contract" spell cards?" Yasuko ponders her head to think until she glares at her opponent. "With that many spell cards, you'll take 3000 points of damage," she speculated. "Why take such a big risk to activate a special effect?" she asked Declan the reasons for his suicidal plan. "You got something under your sleeve?"

"It's not under the sleeve, Yasuko," Declan stated. "But in my deck. Dark Contract with the Swamp King allows me to Fusion Summon 1 Fiend-type Fusion monster from my Extra Deck without using any Fusion Spell cards."

Yasuko and, surprisingly, Sora gasped together in shock. "What? You mean that you can Fusion Summon without a Fusion Spell?" she inquired.

"Don't kid yourself, watch as I fuse D/D Cerberus and D/D Lilith together." The spell card glows brightly. Declan holds a smirk and draws two of his monster cards he is using to Fusion Summon. The two monsters appear in front of Declan before the disintegrated into the swirling vortex.

" _Hellhound which bares its fangs! Seductress of the night! In the whirlpool of light from the realm of the netherworld, become one and give birth to a new king!"_ Declan begins to chant as his monsters disappear into the vortex to fuse one monster coming out of it. _"_ I _ **Fusion Summon!**_ _D/D/D Flame King Genghis_!" Declan Fusion Summons **D/D/D Flame King Genghis (ATK 2000/DEF 1500).** From the vortex comes out a massively armored warrior with a giant red club and a shield appearing in front of Yasuko.

She was a bit disbelief by the appearance of the monster. She thought that Sora and Julia were the only Fusion Summoners in the town, but from Declan mastering the summoning method with ease, shows just how powerful the man can be.

"A Fusion Monster on his first turn?" Yuya inquired.

"So, he's a Fusion Master!" Gongenzaka assumed.

"But why would he take such a risk to Summon that monster?" Zuzu wondered.

"This one must be powerful," Allie said.

"And it's a D/D/D…" Tate pointed out.

"What does it mean?" Frederick inquired.

Sora had this concerned look that shows he's disturbed by the Fusion Summon. "I can't pin it down, but something is completely different," he said. "But if it's just as powerful as it is terrifying, then Yasuko's got herself a huge problem."

Yasuko didn't seem surprised since he did earn a pro-duelist status. She speculated that he could do a Fusion Summon. Shuzo told everyone that the Leo Institute just started teaching Fusion Summon, so it's no surprise that someone like Declan knows it too. Her eyes narrowed to get ready as she saw him grab his last two cards from his hand. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Declan Sets two face-down cards.

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

It's her turn to make the draw, and Yasuko remains observant to the layout of her opponent's field. She was thinking deep in her mind. " _Three Continuous Spell cards, one Fusion monster, and two face-down cards_ ," she thought to herself. " _The next turn he takes 3000 points of damage, but those two face-down cards…"_ She looks at the two set cards from her Duel Disk.

Yasuko stares back at her opponent. He doesn't seem unfazed that it is her turn and he was observing her like she was a unique item which irritates Yasuko. She holds herself to lashing out against him.

She wasn't the only one who's annoyed. All the little kids were being annoyed with Declan's attitude too.

"Why does he act so high and mighty?! Allie exclaimed. "He's so full of himself!"

"He's all relaxed and that, even though he's just a fourth-rate substitute player?!" Fredrick added angrily.

"Relaxed? Yeah, he could be," Sora answered. The kids all looked over to Sora. "Declan seems to be underestimating Yasuko because he's practically spotting himself 3000 points at the start."

"That's…!" Zuzu gasped.

"Inexcusable!" Gongenzaka exclaimed. "A sportsman… that scrub! A Duelists who underestimates his opponents!" he growled. "He deserves to get his deck demolished!" he roared with all his fury.

The kids started to cheer on to Yasuko, much to her irritation.

"Beat that guy to the pulp!"

"Yeah! Kick his butt!"

"Knock him down until I feel the shivers!"

Yasuko's right eye twitches so much that she turned her head to the war room. "Would you please just…Shut! Up!" she exclaims, putting in emphasis for each word to the people at the watch room to be silent. "I'm trying to think!" Everyone remains quiet to let her think about the setup. She kept repeating the same technique over her head.

"Three Continuous Spell cards, costing 3000 points of damage, two face-down…" Yasuko stated calmly. She repeats the strategy over again until a bell chimed in her mind. "Now, I'm starting to see where this is going."

Declan got interested in what Yasuko could see that the audience cannot. "You activated those Dark Contract Spell Cards to buy yourself a Fusion Summon _legally_ , but they all have a cost, and here I'm thinking… what would be the point of all that? Unless you're planning to _cheat_ your way out of those Contract Spell cards to keep your life points," Yasuko explained what Declan's strategy is.

She pointed at Declan's two face-down cards. "You're going to use one of those face-down cards to find a loophole, aren't you?" Yasuko questioned. When her explanation became clear, everyone started to see Yasuko's picture.

"Oh, now I get it!" Tate was the first to realize. "He did put himself at risk, but he set two face-down cards at the end of the turn."

"But if one of those face-downs can negate the effect damage," Fredrick began as Allie finishes the theory, "then he gets to keep all his life points."

"That makes total sense!" Gongenzaka exclaimed. "He wasn't _willing_ to sacrifice all of his life points! He wants his Fusion Monster and then cut down the contract!"

Staring at the cynical girl, Sora was rather impressed how Yasuko managed to figure it out Declan's strategy. "Guess I was wrong about him underestimating Yasuko," he shrugged.

Declan stares at Yasuko with a very intrigued look. Seeing how his opponent managed to figure out his strategy makes him smirk. He adjusts his glasses. "I'm impressed," he said. "No one has ever seen this through. I didn't expect you to come up with the solution that quickly."

"Buddy, if there's one rule about how I Duel… is that I _never_ underestimate my opponents," Yasuko declared. "Whether they are old or young, big or small, pro or an idiot, I never see things smaller, so if you were underestimating me, then I'm insulted."

"Learn to cope," Declan replied.

"It's my turn! I draw!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck and looks at her hand. She puts the card in her hand and takes out a monster. "I Summon Blizzard Dragon!" Yasuko Normal Summon **Blizzard Dragon (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**. A blue scaled dragon with a white underbelly appears on the field.

"And now, I activate its special effect! Once per turn, I can select one monster on the field, and that monster cannot attack or change battle positions until the end of your next turn, so I choose Flame King Genghis!" She points at the flaming warrior as the blue dragon blows a powerful ice breath to freeze the fire demon king.

Yasuko takes out another card from her hand. "Next, I activate the Spell card; Stamping Destruction!" Yasuko activates **Stamping Destruction**. "This card allows me to destroy one Spell or Trap card that you control as long as I have a Dragon-type monster on the field, so that means the one on the left is destroyed!" The blue dragon hops over and smashes the card out of the field like it was a plate. Declan held the same calm face, but Yasuko could've sworn that his mouth twitched,

"And that's not all! When the Spell or Trap card is destroyed, I can inflict 500 points of damage!" As explained, the blue dragon blows a strong icy wind to freeze some of the silk on Declan's shirt, costing him life points on the start.

 **(Declan: LP 4000** → **3500)**

"Wow, that's so amazing," Zuzu said. "She figured out his gaming strategy quickly and smashed it like it was nothing."

"But it still not enough," Gongenzaka added. "Blizzard Dragon's attack points won't take down the king."

"Is that enough to stop him?" Yuya asked.

Yasuko runs to the opened catapult door on the carrier and slides herself to fall in. Grabbing on the ledge, she swings herself to land at a railing before running to pick an Action Card hidden behind the support beam. "I activate the Action Spell; Hive Dive!" Yasuko plays the Action Card; **Hive Dive**.

"Hive Dive gives one monster an extra 1000 attack points until the end of the turn, so Blizzard dragon gains those attack points!" Yasuko explained.

She continues to run until she comes back to the catapult door and lifts herself to climb back outside. "And now Blizzard Dragon is going to freeze that monster until its flames are out," she commented. The blue dragon screeched when it was given a boost from the Action Card.

 **(Blizzard Dragon: ATK 1800** → **2800)**

The kids all reacted so excitingly to see another new monster.

"With that monster's attack points higher than the Flame king, she can attack!" Allie cheered.

"That means if she attacks, it's another 800 points, and that will enough to beat him on his next turn!" Tate added.

"Shivers…" Fredrick cheered, making shivering movements.

"Battle! Blizzard Dragon attacks Flame King Genghis!" Yasuko points at Declan's only monster on the field. "Go, attack with Ice Shard!" The blue dragon flaps its wings, and aerobatic turns to dive down at the warlord monster. The dragon forms a very sharp ice shard as it comes down like a bomber.

Declan saw it and jumps on the club weapon. The flame king manages to break the ice with his club and lifts it high enough to send Declan flying. While in the air, he took an Action Card stuck between two antennas of the bridge. He swiped the Action Card in his disk and activated the last face-down card on the right. Giving a satisfying smirk, he lands on the carrier platform.

As fast as a bullet, the ice shard dragon makes an impact at the flame king and the monster. The explosion produces so much smoke around the area that it is hard to see anything from inside. The blue dragon retreats from the smoke and stands beside the cynical duelist. Yasuko's hair waves from the shockwaves, but her face remains unfazed. She waits to see what happened until smoked cleared.

From the watch room, the three children all jumped together and cheered for the final victory. "All yeah!"

"She did it!" Yuya cheered.

All of the students from You-Show and Gongenzaka had satisfied smiles and cheers that the victory was already in their favor. The students from the Leo Institute held a surprised face, seeing someone like Yasuko could beat the CEO of the Leo Corporation so quickly.

Henrietta wasn't surprised; however, she was calm. Her smile gives a proud face when the smoked cleared. To everyone's shock, Flame King Genghis is still standing tall.

"What?" Fredrick gasped.

"What happened?" Tate gasped too.

Yasuko's eyes frowned deeper that Declan stands in front of his monster with an adequate smirk of amusement. "Impressive," he commented. "That was pretty close right there. If that Spell Card would've sent the card on the _right_ and not the left, you would've already won."

Yasuko gritted her teeth in frustration. "Could've guessed," she said. "You stopped the destruction?" she questioned.

"Yes, I used an Action Card of my own," Declan informed. "It was the Action Spell Card, Miracle." Declan's field shows Yasuko the Action Spell Card; **Miracle**. "It negates the destruction of my monster, and I take halve the damage."

 **(Declan: LP 3500** → **3100)**

Yasuko sighed with a heavy heart. She thought she had him, but she was wrong. She looks up at her opponent. "But on the next turn, you can't use that Flame King to attack, and you'll be taking 3000 points of damage. To savior yourself from humiliation, I give you something to draw since you didn't draw a card on your first turn. I play the Spell Card, One Day of Peace." Yasuko comes to close her turn when she activated the Spell card; **One Day of Peace**. "This lets us both draw a card." Altogether, Declan and Yasuko draw a card from each of their deck. She looks at it and places it in her disk.

"I Set a face-down." Yasuko Sets a card face-down, ending her turn. "And at this moment, the Hive Dive spell ends, and Blizzard Dragon's attack points return to normal."

 **(Blizzard Dragon: ATK 2800** → **1800)**

 **Turn 3: Declan (1x Card)**

It was Declan's turn, but he wasn't going yet. He was staring at Yasuko with an intention in his eyes. He smiled softly and made a loud, "Hmph."

Yasuko finds that to be very offensive and to her confusion. She had already beaten him when he is in his Standby Phase and takes 3000 points of damage for each Dark Contract Spell cards he has on the field. "Something funny again?" she asked.

"Pardon me," Declan answered. "But I was just remembering when you are doing me a favor by letting me go first."

Yasuko was confused when Declan recalled the first moment before they began to duel. "What?"

"I'm amazed how you keep your head strong and make quick thinking decisions, it all became clear to me based on your personality," Declan stated. "You lack any social skills, give cold-shoulders to anyone you've encountered, and you show how much you ignore your surroundings, but you seem to have a good-heart inside, just like when you took over Yuya's place in dueling me."

Declan adjusted his glasses once more. "But at last, that kind of ego would only drive someone to lose control in a duel," he continued. "And that is just one of the quickest ways to defeat."

Yasuko does not like to be lectured on herself. She understood what she is doing and how she feels and does not need a lecture from him. "I don't _do_ kind things because it'll make them feel better," said Yasuko. "I do them because it's how I show my trust."

"You thought you earned their trust?" Declan challenged. "By the end of the turn, you thought it would be game over with just a few life points I have, and yet, you decided to end your move that quickly? Why is that?"

Yasuko's frown never wavered from his conversation. Declan acts as if he knows her, but what he doesn't know is that she never duels him because it is a kind act to the You-Show people; she wants to get better for herself. "I don't need to answer some riddles from some rich, powerful man like you, so draw already, stop wasting my time," Yasuko retorted.

"Always cutting to the chase? My, you're an impatient one," Declan teased with her a bit.

 **(Declan: LP 3100** → **6100)**

To everyone's shock, they thought that on the next turn Declan would have to pay 3000 life points when in fact he ended up gaining them instead.

"Hey, why didn't he pay 3000 life points?!" Fredrick inquired. "How'd come he gained life points?!"

"It's his Standby Phase, but he doesn't cost two-thirds of his life points," Tate added.

To answer the kid's question, Yasuko pointed out something to remind them of Declan's last turn. "He played two face-downs, and one of them cancels the Dark Contract cards, I missed that other one."

"Indeed, you did," Declan admitted.

"What was that other face-down card?" Yasuko demanded.

"The card on the right was a trap card called Contract Laundering." Declan's face-down at the right revealed to be **Contract Laundering** he used earlier in the duel."This card destroys all of my face-up "Dark Contract" cards that are on my field and I gained 1000 life points equal to the number of Dark Contracts I destroyed!" Declan announced.

Yasuko starts to understand what that card did to the Dark Contract cards that were on the field. "And since you managed to destroy all those Dark Contract cards on my last turn, that means their effect damages are negated."

"But that means…" Yuya began.

"He doesn't get to pay any of his life points!" Gongenzaka finished.

"And that's not all, I get to draw a card equal to the number of face-up Dark Contracts I destroyed, so I get to draw three cards from my deck!" Declan explained more as he draws three cards from his deck.

This earned Yasuko a gritted jaw from the trap. "You gained life points, and you draw cards?" Yasuko inquired. "I'm starting to think you're holding out against me."

"And if I were?" Declan challenged. "Would you find that to be an insult?"

"I would find that to be offensive," Yasuko answered. "I hate people who think they are superior than others."

Declan's mouth smiled, showing how amused he is to Yasuko's speculation. She did her research and knew who her opponent is. He was impressed with her. "My, you are impressive," he said. "For a duelist like you to observe and confirm your opponent's key strategy, breaks it down into pieces, and makes contact on equal terms. Those are traits worthy to be in the pro-leagues."

"If I wanted to be one of the pro-leagues, I would have to take some lessons from the man who turns duels into a circus act," Yasuko said. "I'd bet they know all about making people watch dueling better than your people here."

Declan takes her word, and the smile on his face disappears from his mouth. His eyes are narrowed, looking at Yasuko like she did something that offended him. "Are you referring to Entertainment Duels?" he questioned.

Yasuko blinked in surprise. "You know what it is?"

"Of course, I know what Entertainment Duel is," Declan said obviously. "I know all of the duel schools in this city including the You-Show Duel School. The very same school that Yusho Sakaki teaches."

Yuya's ears perked up. He heard him like how cats can listen to things. He turned to Declan, staring at him with a bizarre look. "Did…Did he knew my dad?" he wondered. He wasn't the only one who was surprised. Even Yasuko was taken back. Not only did Declan know about Entertainment Duels, but he also knew Yusho Sakaki.

"Yusho Sakaki?" Yasuko repeated. "You know him?"

Yaiba started to laugh hysterically, holding his chest like it was going to burst. "Ahahaha! Of course, we all know him! Hell, everyone does! He's a freakin' celebrity!" he pointed out.

Yasuko's eyes look down and glare at the obnoxious kendo duelist who is making a mock out of the name. Her eyes started to glare even further when Hokuto joins in. "Yeah! As a former champion who is a complete chicken!"

Declan suddenly made one roar, "SHUT UP!"

Yasuko turns back to Declan with surprise. She never knew that he would react so angrily to even his students. This was the first time she's seen him respond emotionally. Does he have something for Yusho Sakaki? Whatever the case, Yasuko was glad that he made his reaction since it silenced both Hokuto and Yaiba at the instant and leaving them shivering from his fury.

Declan turns back to the Duel. "Sorry, please excuse them," he apologized.

"That's okay, I expected to hear some taunts coming from those idiots," Yasuko dismissed. "But you to defend Yusho is a surprise to me." Her glare decreases and stares at him with a usually cold, cynical expression. "Did you knew him in person, or for what he did to Dueling?"

"Both." Declan's answer surprised Yasuko as he continued, "Yusho Sakaki was a very admirable duelist for exploiting the possibility of Dueling. He made Action Duels as popular and exciting as it is today. As one of the pioneers who helped build the foundations for the Golden Age of Action Duels, I sincerely respect him."

Hearing from Declan, Yasuko did not know how much this man respected Yusho Sakaki. Most people in the town would rebuke or scoff who Yusho Sakaki is and for what he did to his son three years ago. Nobody has respect for him anymore until Declan showed up. She thought he would be the same as the others, but when he told her how much he respected Yusho.

"And I thought there weren't many people who share the same respect for the old man," Yasuko conceded.

"Seems like you never heard of him, haven't you?" Declan questioned.

"I've only heard about this guy since I got here two weeks ago and this Yusho guy did made an influence on you," said Yasuko.

"His influence did affect all of us, even his doings have affected me deeply and dueling Yuya was a chance to duel against his philosophy, but then you came and changed the game," Declan explained. "Now it is the time to use _all_ of our skills. I won't hold back."

"What?" Yasuko scowled.

"Won't hold back?!" Yuya gasped. "Does he mean that he's not serious until now?"

"Perhaps…" Declan said slowly. "It's my turn! I draw!" Declan draws a card from his deck. "I Summon the Level 3 Tuner Monster, D/D Nighthowl!" Declan Normal Summons the Tuner Monster Card he just drew; **D/D Nighthowl (ATK 300/DEF 600)**.

Her eyes widened slightly in surprise that Declan has a Tuner monster in his deck. "A Tuner monster…" Yasuko inhaled.

The You-Show students were utterly shocked by the Summon. At first, they thought that Declan was a Fusion summoner until he revealed to have a Tuner monster.

"What?!" Yuya gasped.

"No way!" Gongenzaka exclaimed.

Henrietta smirks with satisfaction. Her eyes move to Declan. "Perfect…Now the real show begins…" she said.

"When this card is normal summoned successfully, I can select one Level 4 or below "D/D" monster from my graveyard…and have its attack points reduced to zero," Declan explained. "I have decided to revive D/D Lilith!" A wormhole appears in front of Yasuko, and the female monster with a gorgon body comes out with all its ATK and DEF points reduced to zero.

 **(D/D Lilith: ATK 100** → **0/DEF 2100** → **0)**

"I Tune my Level 3 D/D Nighthowl with my Level 4 D/D Lilith!" Declan declared. The two monsters make a run for the edge of the carrier and Nighthowl disperse into three rings to form around Lilith. The rings scan the monster, and it disappears with only four bright stars in between.

 **(3 + 4 = 7)**

" _Howl that cuts through the darkness…Become the first cry of the new King who obtained the speed of the game itself!_ " Declan chanted. "I _**Synchro Summon**_! _The_ _Level 7! D/D/D Gust King Alexander_!" Declan Synchro Summons **D/D/D Gust King Alexander (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. The rings bursts into a beam and out came a warrior with a sword wearing a green cape surrounded by a green aura.

Yasuko was staring at the Synchro monster with a stunned look on her face. "So… that's his Synchro Monster?" she inquired.

All the You-Show students and Gongenzaka watched as Declan successfully made a perfect Synchro Summon. "So, this guy can Synchro Summon too? I wonder what else that guy's been hiding." Gongenzaka commented.

"I'm not finished!" Declan announced. "I activate the Flame King Genghis' special effect!" The Flame King's orange aura suddenly turned purple even though the monster was frozen in ice. "When a D/D/D monster other than Flame King is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one "D/D" monster from my graveyard, and that's what I'll do!"

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "What?"

"Arise once again, D/D Lilith!" Declan proclaimed. He uses Flame King Genghis' special effect to Special Summon **D/D Lilith (ATK 100/DEF 2100)**. The same Gorgon plant fiend appears through the wormhole on the field.

"And there's a further twist! D/D/D Gust King Alexander's special effect activates!" Declan stated. "When a "D/D" monster is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon another "D/D" monster from my graveyard! Be reborn, D/D Cerberus!" Declan uses Gust King Alexander's special effect to revive **D/D Cerberus (ATK 1800/DEF 600).**

From the Special Summon, Yasuko is growing more anxious with every Special Summon. Seeing a Fusion monster and a Synchro monster on the field is giving a dreaded feeling that Yasuko has never felt before in a while.

"Two Level 4 monsters…" Yasuko realized now what Declan was about to do next. "Don't tell me!? You're gonna do a…"

Satisfied with the answer, Declan smirks. "Yes, I intend to Overlay my Cerberus and Lilith," he confirms as he raised his hand high. "With these two monsters, I built the Overlay Network!" The two monsters dispersed into purple lights and combine their energy to the Overlay Network. " _To reign over the entire world…Descend now and take what it is yours!_ I _**Xyz Summon**_ **!** _Rank 4!_ _D/D/D Wave King Caesar_!" From the Overlay Network is Declan's Xyz Monster; **D/D/D Wave King Caesar (ATK 2400/DEF 2000)** , a giant blue armored monster with a glowing blue club. The monster flows behind Declan with all of the other "D/D/D" King monsters.

Yasuko keeps reminding herself to even her head and look at the monsters as a stepping stone to a bigger reward but seeing all three fearsome monsters is building the nervous feeling from the inside. "Okay," said Yasuko. "Now I'm officially screwed." There was no way to deny the monsters in front of her. Yasuko is outclassed by someone who can master all three Extra Deck Summoning techniques.

Declan adjusted his red glasses. "The title, "D/D/D" stands for… "Different Dimensions Demon."" Declan stated. "I should warn you that I have not even begun to unleash the full power of my monsters. The worst is yet to come."

Declan stared at Yasuko's eyes, and he could tell that his abilities may have cracked Yasuko's mental barrier. "Doesn't it sound terrifying that you are going to witness the kings who rule the Different Dimension?" Yasuko's mouth never spoke a word. She carefully examines the monsters that are on the field, knowing that the Duel is starting to get even harder.

"The true battle begins," Declan declared. "Battle! Since Flame King Genghis can't attack, my Gust King Alexander will do it for him!" He points at Yasuko's blue dragon on her field. "I attack Blizzard Dragon with my Gust King Alexander!" The green-caped silver monster rose up and prepares to slay the dragon.

Before it could slice the monster, the girl had prepared a counterattack to prevent that from happening. "I activate my Continuous Trap Card, Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light!" Yasuko declared, much to everyone's surprise as she activates the Continuous Trap card, **Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light**. "This trap card lets me pay 1000 life points to negate one of your attacks." Yasuko can feel the static electricity shocking her veins after paying her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3000)**

The wind warlord attempts to slash at the blue dragon, but a bright sword illuminated from out of nowhere and clashed with the giant one, forcing the green-caped monster to retreat.

"That won't stop my other monster to attack!" Declan reminded. "Let's see if you can use that again when my Wave King Caesar attacks your dragon!" Declan ordered his monster to attack the blue dragon once more. The blue warlord charges before he leaps up and prepares to use the giant sword to slice the monster.

Like before Yasuko pays a toll of her life points to stop his monster from destroying her dragon. "Spiritual Swords let me pay another 1000 life points to negate your attack!" Yasuko uses her trap card to negate the attack like it did with Caesar but at the cost of her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3000** → **2000)**

Everyone was getting worried about Yasuko. She just made a risk of sacrificing her life points to negate every attacks Declan has made. The gap in their life points is vast. Any hope to take down Declan is rapidly dwindling.

"Oh man…" Tate said. "She just used almost half of her life points just to block one attack each."

"Her turn is coming, and she's already throwing away all of those life points just to negate each one of those attacks," Gongenzaka stated. "What was she thinking?"

"I can't believe Yasuko is now in a tight spot," Zuzu said worryingly. "Declan didn't even need to deal battle damage and yet her life points ever lower now."

Yuya gritted his teeth. He was feeling so much from the Duel. Angry. Anxious. Uncertain. He was thinking that having Yasuko Duel for him is a bad idea.

"I've accomplished everything I can do on this turn, and I end when I Set this card!" Declan Sets a card face-down, ending his turn.

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (3x cards)**

Yasuko closed her eyes and let it all in. She thought that the Duel would be quick and easy, but the way Declan has dueled so far, it's clear that Declan is a lot harder to beat. He demonstrates perfect skills and strategic analysis. He also discerns the knowledge of Synchro, Xyz, and Fusion Summon all together in his turn. It's been a while since she faced such a strong opponent like Declan. "It's my turn now!" Yasuko proclaimed. "I draw!" She draws a card. Peeking at what she drew, Yasuko is certain that she draws out a card to even her odds against the three Extra Deck king monsters. _"It seems to this guy isn't going down easily. Guess this means I need to cut loose,"_ she thought.

"I admit, you're as good as everyone said you are, and I respect that…" When Yasuko opens her eyes, it shows how much seriousness they are. "But now, the gloves are coming off!"

"What?" Declan asked, confused.

"It's been three years since anyone has ever pushed me to make me do this," Yasuko stated. "So, I'm going to show you what me and my deck can _really_ do!" Swiftly, Yasuko swipes down the card she drew on her duel disk. "I summon the Level 3 Turner Monster, Delta Flyer!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Delta Flyer (ATK 1500/DEF 900)**. From the field is an olive, armless dragon with dragonfly wings and legs as some thrusters that appears on the field.

Upon her declaration, Declan suddenly caught off guard. His eyes widen, and mouth opened in shock. "A Tuner Monster?!" he gasped.

Everyone in the watch room and Shuzo from the control room all gasped suddenly.

"What? It's a Tuner Monster?!" Yuya inhaled.

"So that dragon's a Tuner Monster?!" Gongenzaka exclaimed.

"No way!" All the kids and the Leo Institute students chorused together.

"So, this girl has a Tuner Monster too?!" Sora added.

Zuzu was staring at Yasuko with a shocked look on her face. "Yasuko… is she going to Synchro Summon?" she wondered.

"Now, I tune my Level 3 Delta Flyer with my Level 4 Blizzard Dragon!" Yasuko declared. The olive dragon flies up along with the blue dragon. The smaller one disintegrates into three green rings that scan the blue dragon. The outlines disappear into four glowing orbs inside of the formation.

 **(3 + 4 = 7)**

" _Dragon of fire, come to the earth and blast away all of my enemies who stand before you! I_ _ **Synchro Summon!**_ _"_ Yasuko chanted as the rings shoot a bright beam. " _Rage_ _on,_ _Level 7! Exploder Dragonwing_!" Yasuko chanted before she Synchro Summons **Exploder Dragonwing (ATK 2400/DEF 1600)**. From the bright beam came a dark back-deformed violet red dragon with red-orange wings and flappy scales. Its forearms and calves are two times bigger than the limbs with sharp claws and orange tail. It roars like a king as it made its appearance known.

For the first time, everyone was shocked. Even Henrietta herself was taken back by Yasuko. She didn't expect the girl like her to be able to do an Extra Deck Summon. Nobody would suspect that a cynical girl like Yasuko to perform a perfect Synchro Summon. Their jaws are wide open.

The light from the sun shines down on the area and flares Yasuko's face. With the deformed dragon on her field, she looked seriously dangerous. "So…shall we begin?"

* * *

 **Alright, here is part one. I sure hope you must be excited just by reading this story so far, and yes, it's going to get more complicated from this point on. Anyways, for now on, I'm just gonna keep my tongue as I hate to give spoilers, but other than a few hints.**

 **I know that you must be very curious right about now, but I will make this whole story better. Thanks for reading the first book so far. Stay tuned, and don't forget to review on what you think of this book so far.**


	13. Chapter 13: The Pendulum Surprise

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 13: The Pendulum Surprise_

* * *

The duel between Declan Akaba and Yasuko Yukihana continues with the escalation of Declan performing all three Extra Deck summoning techniques and a Synchro Summon by Yasuko. The duel on the shipyard turns into a mighty battlefield between two duelists whose skills are unknown to everyone in the You-Show.

Declan has three monsters on his field, all three whom are from respectable Extra Deck. He has **D/D/D Flame King Genghis (ATK 2000/DEF 1500) (Fusion)** , **D/D/D Gust King Alexander (ATK 2500/DEF 2000) (Synchro)** , **D/D/D Wave King Caesar (ATK 2400/DEF 2000) (Xyz) (OU: 2)** , and a Set card.

His monster formation can scare any duelist who duels him, but Yasuko still has her face cool with her **Exploder Dragonwing (ATK 2400/DEF 1600) (Synchro)** and the **Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light** Continuous Trap Card on her side of the field.

Even so, the differences in their life points is very wide between them.

 **Declan: LP 6100 (4x cards)**

 **Yasuko: LP 2000 (3x cards)**

Zuzu looks at Yasuko with bewilderment from her last move. "I can't believe she knows how to Synchro Summon," she said. "Why did she hide that kind of ability until now?"

Yuya was wondering the same thing. "Maybe Sylvio and the other guy didn't push her hard enough," he suggested. "They're just not strong enough altogether."

Sora had an astonishing expression, staring at the girl. "So, she explained to us Synchro, Xyz, and Fusion, but she can only do just one?" He takes a bite of his chocolate bar. "I thought she was going to do more than that."

"Even if she can Synchro Summon, it's still not enough," Tate said. "All of Declan's monsters are on the same level as her dragon."

"How is she going to win with only a Synchro Monster?" Fredrick added.

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (3x cards)**

Yasuko stares at Declan. From a calm demeanor, her face turns serious. It is as if the fire is flaring from her eyes. "So, shall we begin?" she asked.

Declan recovers from his shock and gets serious. "Let's," he answered.

Yasuko starts running out to the edge of the carrier and jumps to get to the other battleship. She lands and barrel rolls before recovering and continues to run. "Battle! Exploder Dragonwing, attack Wave King Caesar!" Yasuko points at the wave warlord.

Tate gasped when he realized that the wave warlord and the deformed dragon had the same attack points. "But Wave King Caesar's got the same ATK points as Exploder Dragonwing!" he pointed out. "They'll destroy each other!"

"No, they won't!" Yasuko commented. "I activate Exploder Dragonwing's special effect! This monster is allowed to destroy a monster on the field that has equal or lower ATK points than this monster's _original_ ATK points!"

The deformed dragon's mouth opens, and a bright light was being absorbed into it. " _Sonic Dark Blast_!" The dragon charges enough energy from its mouth to unleashed it at the wave king. The dragon's mouth glows as bright as the sun and fires a very big beam at the wave warlord. Declan; however, goes back to the Flame King and did the same thing he did when he got his first Action Card, jumping off from the club of the monster as it swings him to other ship.

By then, Declan knows what he must do and lands on the ship with acrobatic skills while swiping another Action Card from the window still and inserting it in his disk.

 **(D/D/D Wave King Caesar: OU: 2** → **1)**

He covers himself as the super-hot fire beam obliterates the blue monster with a loud explosion that echoed in the arena.

"Now, it's special effect can activate! When Exploder Dragonwing destroys a monster, you take damage equal to that monster's ATK points!" Yasuko added.

The You-Show students cheer with joy that Yasuko is beating Declan back.

"All right, Yasuko!" The three kids cheered.

"That's the spirit!" Gongenzaka chided. "With 2400 points of damage, that means its gonna get through."

Yasuko runs through obstacles. She twists and turns at every object that are in her way and even did a side flip to get to another battleship. Yasuko does a speed vault over a crate before vaulting on another one to swipe an Action Card on top.

"I activate the Action Spell, Gravity Turn!" Yasuko plays an Action Spell Card; **Gravity** **Turn**. "This Action Card can only be activated when I destroy a monster in battle, and this card can make my monster attack again and this time, it gets 100 ATK points more!" Yasuko explained, giving the dragon a power boost.

 **(Exploder Dragonwing: ATK 2400** → **2500)**

"All right!" The children cheered.

"It's 100 points stronger now!" Yuya joined.

"Now that's what you call a powerful star beast!" Gongenzaka smiled. "By attacking all of those monsters, the damage is going to triple out his Life points."

Zuzu was smiling that Yasuko is putting it all in the Duel. "She's doing it…" she said softly.

"Exploder Dragonwing attack Flame King Genghis!" Yasuko declared.

Like before, the deformed dragon charges its flare beam from its mouth. The beam was ready and by unleashing it destroys the red warlord monster with a large explosion.

"Yeah!" Everyone who sides with Yasuko cheered.

"Shivers!" Fredrick screamed as he makes shivering movements.

Yasuko keeps on moving, dodging and passing through any objects while doing some tricks such as side-flipping to another ship, vaulting through a small window, and diving through a hole before barrel rolling to grab an Action Card on the floor.

"Action Spell; Wonder Chance!" Yasuko plays the Action Card, **Wonder Chance.** "This card gives my Exploder Dragonwing an additional attack, so your Alexander is going to be fried." Just like that, the deformed dragon's red beam rains down at the green-caped monster and destroys it.

Everyone is growing excited with each attack counting. They are all cheering for Yasuko to save the You-Show Duel School thanks to her monster.

"The game is decided!" Tate smiled. "Since she destroyed two of his monsters, the damage will exceed his life points! I'm talking a whopping 7400 points of damage!"

"She saved the school!" Allie beamed.

Everyone was smiling with joy. At first, they thought that Yasuko was going to lose the entire match for them, but when she makes the Synchro Summon, the duel has turned around.

"With Synchro Summoning on our side, Yasuko can't lose to Declan!" Zuzu assured.

"And that is one powerful monster," Gongenzaka explained. "Declan can't win now, and his defense doesn't seem to be that formidable."

Yuya beams at Yasuko with relief. He can finally keep his school that his dad and worked so hard to build. "Yasuko…you're awesome," he said.

Yasuko halts at the edge to see the smoke rising from the battleship that her attack just landed. Across from the body of water, the platform was covered in thick smoke from her attacks. She narrows her eyes now.

As the smoked cleared, all Yasuko's eyes can do is frown harder when all three of the monsters she destroyed just reappeared on the field. This shocked everyone. They thought that the deformed dragon destroyed all of Declan's strongest monsters, but they are still on the field.

"You're friggin' kidding," Zuzu said in shock. "They're back."

"But how!?" Tate wondered. "They should all be destroyed…I saw them!"

"Me too!" Gongenzaka agreed.

"Damn it I hate it when I forget," Yasuko cursed. "You had one of those Overlay Units when I attacked, didn't you?"

"Correct," Declan replied. "Before you destroyed my Wave King Caesar, I used one Overlay Unit to Special Summon as many of the monsters that were destroyed by you during your Battle Phase."

"What? But that's all his monsters!" Yuya gasped.

"So, he can Special Summon them from the graveyard!?" Gongenzaka questioned. "Is he some kind of a monster or a miracle worker?"

"Naturally," Declan adjusted his glasses as he continued, "Such an immense power comes at the greater price. Specifically, for every monster that Caesar revived will cost me 1000 life points on my next Standby Phase."

The children begin to calculate the damage that Declan would take for reviving three monsters in the field. "He revived three monsters…" Tate began.

"But the damage would've already ended his life points," Fredrick points at Declan's life points.

 **(Declan: LP 6100** → **2400)**

Everyone was shocked when they thought that the damage would've already finished off Declan for good, but instead, he lost only half of the damage he would've received.

"What?!" Allie gasped. "That can't be right!"

"But how?!" Tate inquired. "He shouldn't have that much life points left!"

Confused, Zuzu asked, "I don't understand? How come he took only half the damage he was supposed to receive?"

"While you were getting acrobatic, I was able to find this card," Declan confessed, showing the audience the Action Spell Card; **Full Fairing**. "This Action Spell is called Full Fairing. It halves all damage to my life points whether its battle or effect damage."

The You-Show faction gasped when Declan swiped a lucky Action Card that saved himself and his monsters.

"But that means, all of those damages are halved," Yuya pointed out.

"But at least he's going to pay 3000 for summoning back all those monsters," Tate assured.

"Yeah, his life points are all below 3000, so it should finish him for good," Frederick added.

Sora close his eyes and sighed. "I keep on telling you guys that is never gonna happen," he pointed out, forcing the two children to turn to look at him. "He is not the one who would give up so easily." He then pointed his chewed chocolate bar at Yasuko. "Take a look at her face," he said. "She's definitely not surprised when she knows who she's dealing with. I mean, she's not worried about his next move."

Yasuko never left the sight of Declan's field layout, looking suspiciously at the face-down card he set earlier.

"The boy is correct," Declan declared, activating the Trap Card; **D/D/D Human Resources.** "And this trap card is called D/D/D Human Resources!" he explained. "By using this card, I can shuffle three "D/D/D" monsters to my Deck and add two more "D/D" monsters from my Deck to my hand." He demonstrated the effect by sending his monsters back to the Extra Deck and taking out two _specific_ D/D cards from his deck.

"Ya-see?" Sora proved. "Since the monsters aren't here anymore, he wiped his damage clean for his next turn."

"He brought back his monsters just to send them away again?" Fredrick inquired.

"He said that good rewards always come at a price, but what was the point of all that?" It was Allie's turn to ask a question.

Tate shrugs. "I guess he _did_ increase his hand by two cards."

Sora takes a glance over his shoulder to the three kids before looking over to Declan. "Those two cards…" Sora wondered.

With his field now empty, there's a good chance that he may do another three Extra Deck summon technique like he did before, so Yasuko needs to reinforce herself.

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn." Yasuko finished as she Sets two cards, ending her turn. "And at this moment, Exploder Dragonwing's ATK points returns to normal." As proclaimed, the attack points on the deformed dragon decreases to its original.

 **(Exploder Dragonwing: ATK 2500** → **2400)**

 **Turn 5: Declan (5x cards)**

It's Declan's turn, but he hasn't made his move. He just stared across from the waters at Yasuko on the other side of the battleship. Neither one of them left their sight from each other. The silences between them salted for a few minutes before Yasuko breaks it.

"Gotta hand it to ya; you are impressive," Yasuko admitted. "Seeing one person doing a Synchro, Xyz, and Fusion Summon all at the same time? Must be my lucky day."

Her eyes gaze at his purple one with a spectacle glass. Her expression was gratitude, but her face doesn't show satisfaction that she gets to Duel someone stronger than her. It still had the same cynical, less smiling appearance.

"And you are full of surprises," Declan admitted. "Who would've thought that you astounded us with a Synchro Summon." He adjusted his glasses again. "Got any more tricks up your sleeves?"

Yasuko hummed. "Hmm. Not in my sleeves, but in my Deck," she quoted his line from earlier in the Duel. "But still, is that the best you can do?" she challenged.

Declan's glasses reflected off the ceiling light. "My best?" he repeated. "Very well, I'll show you my best! Cuz this is the end of the Duel!"

"What do you mean?" Yasuko asked.

The Leo Corporation president ignores her question and turns his head to look down at the one person who discovered Pendulum Summon. "Yuya Sakaki! I have unlocked the secrets of many forms of summonings including the one that is highly prized by you!" Declan declared, pointing at Yuya.

Yuya's eyes are shaking with anxiety as the words from Declan hits his core like a knife stab. "What?" he startled.

Yasuko's eyes narrowed. She couldn't believe that she's hearing another person claiming that they can do a Pendulum Summon. Her disgusted sound coming from her mouth means she's irritated that he's acting like what Sylvio did at the tag-team Duel. "Not this again," she rebuked. "Don't tell me you can do a Pendulum Summon like that other guy! You're just bluffing."

Declan was severe; however, showing no hesitation to do it. "Am I?" he questions her.

"Yes, you are," Yasuko accused.

"Then maybe this will change your mind when I draw!" Declan draws his card and gets right to the chase. The sun from the hologram arena shines brightly on top of Declan; his long red scarf flying with a card he holds. He takes out the two cards that he drew from his trap card's effect and shows everyone the ruthless power of his deck.

"I use the Scale 1 D/D Savant Galilei as well as the Scale 10 D/D Savant Kepler to set the Pendulum Scale!" Declan's declaration of making his first Pendulum Summon shocks Yasuko to the core.

The revelation is so terrifying it made Yasuko's eyes widen, mouth gaped, suddenly horrified that Declan has access to Pendulum Summon. "What?! You're kidding me!?" she gasped in a loud voice.

She was not the only one who was taken back. Everyone in the school, except for Henrietta, gasped when they see Declan performing the second Pendulum Summon.

"I'm going to beat you with this new profound power!" Declan declared. And with that, he sets his **D/D Savant Galilei (Scale 1)** and **D/D Savant Kepler (Scale 10)** at the edge of his duel disk. The large rainbow "PENDULUM" word appears on his Duel disk; the same way Yuya plays his Pendulum cards. Two stone tower monsters flow up through the pillar of light with their respective scale numbers below. "Just like Yuya, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between Levels 2 and 9 at the same time!" Declan called.

"Those are Pendulum monsters?!" Gongenzaka exclaimed. "Maybe the guy's just bluffing!"

"No way," breathed Zuzu, shocked. "I don't think so."

"Me either!" Sora was just as shock as everyone else from all of this.

" _Grand power swaying my soul itself! Let the energy of the universe become a new light inside me and purge all the darkness dwelling within!_ " Declan begins to chant. "I _**Pendulum Summon**_! I call upon my three monsters to emerge!" At his word, a portal opens from above Declan, and a strong purple light descends to Summon his three monsters. "The three Transcended Deities that dominate over all Kings! My trio of D/D/D Doom King Armageddons!" Declan Pendulum Summons three **D/D/D Doom King Armageddon** **(ATK 3000/DEF 1000)**. Three massive crystal shaped monsters with black holes in their bodies descend and floats above Declan, towering over Yasuko.

Yasuko could only watch as the monsters, and the scale numbers appear before her. She thought that she had Declan under her nose, but when he demonstrated his Pendulum Summon, Yasuko was wrong. She couldn't express words to counter this. She could only stare at the monsters.

Everyone was speechless and shocked when Declan _actually_ made a successful Pendulum Summon. No one was shocked and horrified as Yuya Sakaki. He could not believe that somebody like Declan Akaba can make a Pendulum Summon happen without his cards. All he can do was stare at the three monsters that were Pendulum summoned.

"W-why…How come he can Pendulum Summon?" Yuya asked stuttering in his own words.

"Which means…" Zuzu didn't want to finish her sentence because this combination would end Yasuko's life points for sure.

"Battle! I attack Exploder Dragonwing with one of my Doom King Armageddon!" Declan declared. One of the crystal beings' black hole from the center glows brightly. The bright purple light was a warning that snaps Yasuko out of her dazed state increases her defense against the three monsters.

"I activate my Trap Card; Safe Zone!" Yasuko declared, activating the Continuous Trap Card, **Safe Zone**. "This card lets me equip it to a monster on my field and negates the destruction of my monster, and it can't be destroyed by battle or card effects so long as this trap card remains on the field!" Yasuko points at her deformed dragon. "And I choose to equip it to my Exploder Dragonwing!"

"Even if your monster isn't destroyed, you still take damage!" Declan pointed out.

The purple beam shot up to the deformed dragon, but thanks to the trap card, the beam was absorbed by the aura surrounding the dragon. The damage was enough to cost her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 2000** → **1400)**

Everyone from the You-Show sighed in relief that the trap card will save the monster and the cynical duelist, but it didn't stop Declan from making three consisting attacks.

"That will be the last miracle to save you this time," Declan stated. He points at the deformed dragon. "Now my other two Doom King Armageddons will attack your Exploder Dragonwing!"

This time, two crystal-beings power up their purple dimensional beams and shot straight up to the deformed dragon. The blast was even bigger than the last one, forcing a massive shockwave when the beam made an impact to the dragon. The shockwave was so strong that the ships around the field shakes and waves build up to move every single ship in the yard.

Yasuko tries to do a vault over a cannon barrel, but the shockwave creating huge waves rocked the ship and made her slip and hit something on her shin area. She tumbles down on the hull of the battleship until she hits the floor, hurting somewhere in her left leg and her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1400** → **200)**

Everyone from You-Show gasped in shock and worry as they watched the girl fall to the floor of the warship, looking hurt after making a mistake from her parkour move. Her gritted teeth and her eyes squinting shut means that she could be hurt badly.

"No... It can't be..." Zuzu said in disbelief.

"Yasuko! Oi Yasuko! YASUKO!" Yuya yelled, banging on the glass to get her attention. None of his words were reaching to her as she lays in pain.

Gongenzaka could only grunt in dismay as the kids were frightened of Yasuko's well-being "Yasuko…" Allie worried.

Everybody wants to hear anything from Yasuko, but she was lying on the ground holding her shin area. She tries to get back up, but she collapsed on her own. Everybody started to grow even more worried if she can continue the duel with that injury. She was doing all so well until Declan made the Pendulum Summon and turned the duel against her favor, ending up with her getting hurt in the process.

"To think she would lose like this," Sora said in disbelief as he frowned at Yasuko's possible defeat. "Maybe this is the end of our school…"

Henrietta, on the other hand, smirked in triumph, believing that victory was theirs. She applauded for her son, seeing that he was able to Pendulum Summon very well.

"That was magnificent, Declan. Now that you are able to master Pendulum Summon this perfectly, the You Show Duel School is finished..." Henrietta started, until she began to think arrogantly. " _Hmph... It is a complete victory. Once we added Pendulum studies to the Leo curriculum, then we no longer might need them, we will simply crush them. And with the condition Yasuko Yukihana is in right now, this match has already been decided."_

Yasuko hides any discomfort from the audience and from Declan. She could feel the burning sensation on her shin area. _"Friggin' damn it,"_ she cursed mentally. " _To think I would get hurt at an Action Duel."_ She looks up at her Declan and his three crystal-being monsters that on the other side of the ship. " _This guy's been holding back against me and he gets to make a comeback with that stupid Pendulum Summon? Now he's pissing me off!"_ Steadily, she supports herself to stand on her good right leg before putting pressure to the injured left.

"Y-Yasuko…" Zuzu breathed after seeing trying to stand up.

Yuya holds his breath, pressing his face closer to the glass to see the cynical duelist using the wall of the gun placement to support herself.

Declan notices her injury from the last attack. "You still want to continue, even with that injury?" he questioned her.

Yasuko's head straightened and frowned at the duelist. "When I do parkour, I've sprained ankles and twisted my muscles until I got used to them, but this…this is just a cake," she commented. Her eyes shone to Declan with the same frown on her face. "I like to see you try and beat me with that Pendulum again," she challenged.

"Very well, I shall show you more of my powers," Declan vowed. "I end my turn with a face-down." Declan ends his turn after he Sets a card.

 **Turn 6: Yasuko (1x card)**

The You-Show students look at Yasuko. With only one card in her hand and low life points, her chances of winning are slim to none with only Exploder Dragonwing protected by one trap card, a useless trap card that costs her life points, and one face-down. She looks down at her Spell Card.

" _All I have is this Quick-Play Spell Card, Reload; therefore, it would be useless if I had more cards in my hands."_ Yasuko thinks very deep to her next draw.

She paused her fingers on the deck; however when she notices that her right hand was shaking. " _What's this?"_ she thought. " _My hand…its shaking?"_ It was a reaction she hasn't felt in three years. _"Why is it shaking now?"_ She gritted her teeth, growing upset over her hesitation to draw. She closes her eyes and let all the distractions from around her slowed. Her mind was in a complete reconfiguration. Breathing in slowly, she allows her body take control of the adrenaline flow.

" _Okay, calm down Yasuko,"_ she told herself. " _Let's think this through. There are three Doom King Armageddons obviously, and each one of them has 3000 ATK points. Declan has 2400 life points remaining, so to take down his iron-clad wall, I have to attack him."_

Yasuko opens her eyes and gazes down at her only face-down card on the field. " _The trap card on my field is Unbreakable Spirit._ _If I can attack, I can be able to use it to make Exploder Dragonwing gain the total of one of the weakest monsters on his side of the field. Doom King Armageddon all have 3000 ATK points. It should be able to bring him down."_

The feeling of doubt in her head started to slow down a bit after she mentally talks herself out of this. Even so, there was still doubts remaining that she could not push out.

"Yasuko!" the shout of Yuya Sakaki made her ears perked to the source of his voice. "Yasuko! Don't give up just yet! It's still your turn! I know you can do it! You never hesitate in making your turn, so whatever you do, just do it!" His shouting to cheer her on draws, even more, cheering from the spectators.

"That's right!" Zuzu joins in to shout. "You accepted to take Yuya's place to save the school, so you must do it, Yasuko! For all of us!"

"Do it, Yasuko!" Gongenzaka exclaimed.

"Come on, Yasuko!" Allie shouted. "You can do it!"

"Yasuko!" Tate blurted out.

"We're all counting on you!" Fredrick added.

All of the cheering and shouting from the You-Show students are starting to get through her head. Yasuko wanted to draw them out and focus on drawing her card but blocking all their yelling, and their cheering aren't going away. They were counting on her to save their school.

Finally calming herself down to the point where she is at peace, her eyes open wide, showing her fierce determination to make the draw. "It's my turn! I draw!" Yasuko draws a card so fast that it leaves a bright trail mark behind.

"I activate my Trap Card, Dark Contract with the Eternal Darkness!" Declan declared suddenly, much to everyone's surprise. His Trap card opens to reveal itself: **Dark Contract with the Eternal Darkness**. From the trap card, black fog pours out of the card and onto the ship that Declan is on. "If I alone possess this Dark Contract card, you cannot use Spell or Trap cards that will target monsters on the field or use your own to Tribute Summon. And also, you cannot use them to Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon!"

To everyone's shock, they underestimated Declan now that he has sealed off Yasuko from ever performing the Extra Deck summons.

"What the?!" Yuya gasped. "She can't Tribute, Synchro, Fusion, or Xyz Summon!?"

Gongenzaka held a fist in front of him angrily. "That's bullhorse!" he shouted. "How can he do that!"

Zuzu is getting even more worried. "I can't believe it…Declan locked down her entire deck…" she said as Zuzu looks over to Yasuko. "She cannot do anything."

Sora and the rest of the kids were utterly taken back by Declan. They thought they could win, but Declan has proven to be an adamant opponent even for Yasuko.

They all stare at her. The bangs on her dark forest hair cover her eyes, shadowing them. She looks defeated by Declan's lockdown combo. Her monster isn't strong enough. She can't use her last face-down card, and she has low life points.

Yasuko was staring down at the card that she drew earlier. The You-Show people are struck to see their school being defeated in combat.

"Face it, Yasuko Yukihana," Declan called, adjusting his glasses. "I have you right where I want you. I've cut off your monsters, I've severed your spells and trap cards, and I've already beaten your deck."

Unknown to Yasuko, her keychain dangling from her jean belt loop started to glow lightly. Her hand was still holding the card she drew in the air as she sees what it was.

Declan continued to talk to her. "You don't have the chance of beating me now," he said. "Why can't you just admit –"

"You don't get to decide if you've beaten me yet!" Yasuko suddenly called.

Declan and the other people were surprised to hear her talk. Yasuko's head rises quickly. As her head comes up straight, she burns her gaze at his eyes with her self-affirming glare. "As long as I draw life points, I still duel! And I'm going to beat you with my Dueling!"

Quickly, she inserts her card to activate the Spell Card; **Pot of Desires**. "I activate the Spell Card, Pot of Desires!" she yelled. "This Spell Card banishes 10 cards from the top of my Deck, and I get to draw 2 cards!"

The reaction from both parties turned to dumbstruck. The You-Show party had their mouths gape in horror.

"What?" Zuzu gasped. "She going to continue? She cannot use anything to destroy monsters, and now she's banishing 10 cards to draw 2? What was she thinking?"

"Maybe she isn't thinking," Gongenzaka assumed.

"But why?" Yuya asked, horrified that Yasuko is going to make another risky move.

"I banish the 10 top cards from my Deck," The deck ejected ten cards and Yasuko puts them away. "And I draw two!" Yasuko swipes her hand across to draw two cards. She looks at them again.

Taking out one of the cards she drew, she plays a Spell Card; **Pot of Acquisitiveness.** "Then, I play another Spell Card called Pot of Acquisitiveness **.** " Yasuko declared. "This card lets me select three banished monsters and shuffles them back to my deck."

Because of her last card, three of the ten cards she banished are monsters. The duel disk shows three banished cards in front of her. One was **Paladin of Felgrand** , the second was **Masked Dragon** , and the last one was **Darkblaze Dragon**. "I return my recently banished Paladin of Felgrand, Masked Dragon, and Darkblaze Dragon to my Deck and shuffle them." Yasuko takes three banished monsters and returns to her deck before shuffling it.

"Once that's done, I get to draw another card." Yasuko draws a card.

"You get to draw more cards?" Declan asked.

"Yep," Yasuko replied. Looking back at her hand, subtracting the Reload spell card out, she has two cards to shuffle.

"Yasuko's been drawing one card after another," Gongenzaka pointed out. "Does she plan on picking out the cards that would change the Duel?"

"I don't know…" Zuzu said with uncertainty. "She draws more cards with every draw she makes."

Yasuko looks at her hands briefly before she uses that one card she just drew before. "Looks like I'm on a roll today because I play this Spell Card; Pot of Greed!" Yasuko called, playing a Spell Card; **Pot of Greed**. "This lets me draw more two cards," she said. Drawing two more cards, Yasuko could finally see that she has drawn at least up to four for every Pot card she's used. Excluding the Reload Spell card, she has three cards.

"I activate this!" Yasuko exclaimed, playing the Spell Card, **Magic** **Planter.** "It's called Magic Planter. It lets me send one Continuous Trap Card on the field and allows me to draw two more cards." She gestured to her Spiritual Sword trap card. "So, I'm sending my Spiritual Swords of Revealing Light to the graveyard to draw two cards." The trap card disperses into tiny particles.

"She gets to draw more cards?" Allie wondered.

"Every draw she makes get her to at least five by now for every usage," Tate proclaimed. "I've been counting the total of cards that she has drawn. She draws up to 8, but by using all those other last cards, she was able to get four additional ones."

"Do you guys think she can win with drawing more cards?" Frederick asked.

Drawing two more cards to her hand, Yasuko can see that her hand is at five. " _Four cards to shuffle. Here we go…"_ Yasuko plays her **Reload** Quick-PlaySpell card.

"I play the Quick-Play Spell, Reload!" Yasuko declared. "This Spell Card lets me shuffle all the cards from my hand to my deck, and I get to draw the same number of cards that I had before!" Yasuko quickly inserts her entire hand to her deck and lets the duel disk shuffles them with a small rattle.

While doing so, her keychain is starting to glow brightly with every move Yasuko makes. The glow wasn't bright enough to get her attention, but it begins to illuminate as her turn goes on.

"She shuffles all those cards she drew back to her deck?" Zuzu inquired. "Is she planning on a comeback?"

"I don't know, but let's just hope and pray that this combo would be her ticket to beating this guy," Gongenzaka implored. "She had four cards in her hand, now we just wait and see what's in stored."

Yasuko's hand slowly reaches out for her deck. " _This is it..."_ she thought. " _My last draw in the turn…"_ As her fingers move closer to her deck, the keychain hooked to the jean belt loop starts to glow even brighter. Her keychain is causing another glow from the sidelines. Yuya was the first to notice that his pendant began to glow. It shined brightly enough to catch his attention. "Eh? My... My pendant? Why is my pendant glowing?" Yuya asked in surprise. As the two-crystal pendants glowed together, Yasuko placed her finger on her deck.

 _THUMP-THUMP!_

Upon her touch, Yasuko suddenly felt a powerful heartbeat. She gasped. Yasuko stops at her movement, her eyes lingering over her deck.

 _THUMP-THUMP!_

She could feel another heartbeat; this one was louder. _"What's this?"_ she thought to herself. " _What's this strange sensation?"_ she pondered all her thoughts on what's causing her heart to beat so loudly that her ears could hear. When she looks down at her hand, she could feel something face-down on those cards. Whatever's causing her heart to beat very hard, Yasuko could not let it stop her from drawing all four cards that are on her deck. Taking a deep breath, Yasuko narrows down, and with one quick motion, her hand swipes four cards.

When she drew her four cards, the crystal keychain glows so bright that it illuminates as bright as Yuya's pendant. Yasuko looks down at what cards she got from shuffling. As she looks down, she suddenly gasped in shock. It was her signature dragon, but it was completely different.

" _What the?_ _Why have you…?"_ She put a thought of why her dragon is now the new card that was emerging. And it's not just her dragon.

Three out of the four monster cards are now _those_ cards. Yasuko wonders how they became to be. Regardless of how they are, Yasuko doesn't care if everyone knows; she has to win the duel no matter what.

She blinks once before her eyes shone a fierce determination to finish the duel once and for all. "The game has changed!" Yasuko announced. Taking out two cards, she shows her opponent what they are. "I use my Scale 1 Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon and my Scale 8 Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon set the Pendulum Scale! I'm going to be the one who controls this duel right now!" And then, just like Declan, she places her **Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon (Scale 1)** and her **Odd-Eyes Mirage Dragon (Scale 8)** at the edges of her blue blade, which caused the rainbow word "PENDULUM" to appear on her Duel Disk.

"What?!" Declan gasped in disbelief.

Everyone is even more shocked when Yasuko declares her sentence. They were all kicked in the teeth with disbelief of what Yasuko is going to do next.

Yasuko stands between two pillars of light appearing on either side of her field, skyrocketing to the clouds. In those pillar of lights, two monsters emerge from the bottom and float up with their respectable Pendulum Scale number before them.

The one on her left is a green-scaled dragon with yellow-white bone plates and in the one on her right was a red-skinned dragon with similar bone plates and its tail was split into two smaller ones at the end. What's distinguishing about them is that the dragons have heterochromatic eyes. One red and one green. All of the You-Show people and Gongenzaka went dumbstruck when they saw that those dragons had the same eyes as Yuya's ace monster and they both bear the name, "Odd-Eyes."

"With these two monsters, I can Pendulum Summon between Levels 2 and 7 simultaneously!" Yasuko called. " _Hear my soul roaring upon thy! I call forth the energy of my heart to unleash the flame of solemnity from within_! I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _!_ _Bring forth, my monsters!_ " Yasuko yelled with all her heart. A small portal opens, and two pillars of light rain down in purple and orange light behind Yasuko.

"I Pendulum Summon Dragard! And my most faithful monster of all, Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" Yasuko revealed, declaring that she Pendulum Summon **Dragard (ATK 1300/DEF 1900)** and **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**.

Shuzo was practically standing on his feet, looking incredibly shocked when Yasuko Pendulum Summons a dragon that he is familiar with. "Wh-what is that dragon?!" Shuzo stuttered.

Aside from the black scaled dragon with purple underbelly scales standing beside the deformed synchro dragon, it's Yasuko's Phantom Dragon that's taking the spotlight. The Phantom Dragon has blue scales; though much of its body is under the yellow-white bone armor. Instead of wings, it had blades emerging from its' shoulders with a red orb at the end of one and a green orb at the other, and a blue orb in the center of its forehead. The head has two large horns that are sticking upwards. Like Yuya's Pendulum Dragon, the Phantom Dragon has the same red and green, dichromatic eyes. It roars very loudly, making the windows around them vibrate to the sound of her beast.

"T-that dragon…" Gongenzaka managed to croak his words out. "It…it looks almost exactly like…"

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon," Zuzu finished.

Yuya was beyond horrified; he was crushed, devastated by the sudden appearance of another Odd-Eyes that is not his own. The same dreadful feeling as when Declan began his Pendulum Summon came back to him, only it was ten folds worse when Yasuko made her first Pendulum Summon and the appearance of another Odd-Eyes he thought he alone possesses. "But…but why?" he wondered. "Why does…why does Yasuko…" He couldn't find the words to express what he wants to say since the dragon took away his breath.

All of the children were staring at the phantom dragon with their mouths opened.

"Odd-Eyes…" Tate began.

"Phantom Dragon?" Allie finished.

"But…but I thought Yuya was the only one who has Odd-Eyes," Frederick wondered, looking over to the shocked Yuya.

Sora held his chocolate bar close to his mouth, thinking the same thing, turning his head over to Yuya. "I thought he was too," he said.

" _This is it, Odd-Eyes. It's time to show everyone what we can really do. I'm betting it all in this Pendulum power…"_ Yasuko stands strong, narrowing at Declan with her dragon growling beside her. "So, you said that this is the end of the duel, right?" she rephrases the declaration of his exact words. "Well this is the end of the duel; the end for you losing to my Phantom Dragon!"

Yasuko raises her hand at the front. "I activate Dragard's special effect! By tributing one Dragon-type monster, I can give one monster on my field an extra 800 attack points." The deformed dragon makes one last roar before it disappears into particles that shower down on Declan and Yasuko. "And at the moment Exploder Dragonwing is sent to the graveyard, so does my Safe Zone trap card." The face-up trap card on her field disintegrated into millions of particles.

"What the?! Why would she do that?!" Gongenzaka questioned. "Exploder Dragon's got that special effect to inflict damage equal to the attack points of one of those Doom King trio! Is she gone over her head?!"

Zuzu agreed with Gongenzaka. She started to panic when Yasuko is going to throw away her best Synchro monster for Odd-Eyes. "What the heck are you doing?!" she shouted. "You do that; you'll never get to win the duel if you just increase Odd-Eyes' ATK points!"

"Just shut up and watch!" Yasuko protested, ignoring the shocked You-Show people. She can hear her phantom dragon roaring with life as it gains the boost.

 **(Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: ATK 2500** → **3300)**

Yasuko stares at Declan as she replied, "Thank you Declan for giving me this opportunity. I get to test my new profound Pendulum powers. Beating you with Exploder Dragonwing wouldn't be enough. I want to see what my new and improved Phantom Dragon can do now that it became a Pendulum Monster." Briefly, Yasuko takes a glance down at the audience window. She could see the horrified Yuya staring back at her.

Yasuko stares back at Declan's monsters. "Odd-Eyes…" Yasuko gestures her right hand to make it like a gun and aims it directly at the Doom King monster in the middle. "Take out that Doom King in the middle," she ordered. "And make sure you don't miss."

The phantom dragon obeys her command and launches itself in the air. "Battle! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, attack Doom King Armageddon!" Yasuko commanded. "Burn that iron clad being with your Phantasma Burst Strike!" The Phantom Dragon opens its mouth, and blue energy swirls in to build a massive blast to blow away one of Declan's monster.

It seems that everyone's mouth look like they were broken. All mouths gape at the destruction of Declan's best monster. Even so, his chance is winning is still standing. The damage didn't do him much as it was only three hundred.

 **(Declan: LP 2400** → **2100)**

Declan was disappointed at her valiant effort to defeat him. "After all of that? Is that all you can muster?" he questioned. "I don't see what the differences is in our strength. Even if you can Pendulum Summon, there isn't anymore that you can do." He swiftly swings his hand to show him the power of his monsters.

"Doom King Armageddon's effect can now activate!" he declared. "When one Doom King is destroyed, the other Doom Kings gains the total of attack points equal to the one Doom King it was destroyed!"

At such, the purple aura surrounds the two remaining transcendence monsters gives them a boost because Yasuko destroyed one of their own.

 **(Doom King** **Armageddon: ATK 3000** → **6000)**

 **(Doom King** **Armageddon: ATK 3000** → **6000)**

On cue, Yasuko's mouth twitched once. "Don't kid yourself, I still have Phantom Dragon's special effect." Her revelation surprised Declan.

Yasuko looks at him with the same burning determination, and wasn't done with her turn. "Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon's special effect activates! When this card is successfully Pendulum Summoned and inflicted damage by attacking, Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon can deal damage for every "Odd-Eyes" cards in my Pendulum Zone multiplied by 1200!"

"What!?" Declan gasped in shock.

"There are two Odd-Eyes in her Pendulum Zone!" Tate pointed out, looking at the two floating dragons.

"And 2 times 1200 equals…" Frederick calculated.

"2400 points of damage!" Zuzu finished. "That means she wins!"

"Go! _Phantasma Force_!" The phantom dragon charges up another blue energy. It grows exponentially to where it cannot hold it any longer. In one swift move, the dragon sends a spiraling blast with white skulls swarming around it.

In his mind though, Declan had to admit it. Yasuko has made some interesting skills she demonstrated. There is still more to her than what he expected. Standing down, he let a small satisfied smile as the phantom dragon unleashed a big spiraling blue energy beam down on him. The beam makes impact with the biggest explosion to wipe out all of Declan's life points.

 **(Declan: LP 2100** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The Action Field Spell wears off around Declan and Yasuko and starts disappearing into tiny specs of dusts. The arena returns to normal, and Yasuko can finally take a break. She sits on the ground and falls to lay on her back, watching the field disintegrate like little stars.

There were a few pauses as everybody could not believe what has happened. Henrietta was completely overwhelmed. She thought Declan would win because he knows all of the Extra Deck summons, but to think that her _own_ son beaten by a nobody was far more humiliating than the Tag-Team Duel.

Out of nowhere, the three kids all cheered together with such happiness and joy. "Yasuko won!" they shouted all together.

"Yeah! She did it!" Gongenzaka jeered. "Now that's how you Duel!"

Zuzu was on the verge of tears when she lost hope for Yasuko to save her school until the successful comeback with the Pendulum Summon. "She…she did it! She did it Yuya!" she called to her childhood friend. "She did…" she paused when Zuzu stared at him; however, and it was no joy or happiness that she saw.

Yuya was so focused on Yasuko that sadness is written all over his face. His eyes widen, mouth ajar. He was staring at Yasuko with bizarre. "But… it's not possible," he said that only Zuzu could hear.

Zuzu looks at him with concern. "Yuya?" she asked.

Meanwhile, Yasuko still lies down, staring at the caged ceiling that shows it going to get late with the orange sky. She was so focused on the Duel that she forgot to check the time. Exhaustion ran through her body like a train on a railroad track. Her blood rushes to every part of her limbs.

Yasuko gives a heavy sigh when she looks up. "Oh god…" she said. "I better get back. Diana's gonna be pissed when she finds out I'm home late again."

Having to do an Action Duel for the You-Show and to add the injured leg from her lousy parkour move, she is going to be late. A shadow looks over her. She looks up and sees Declan bending down with his hand extended toward her. "Need a hand?" he asked.

"Are you just being nice because I got injured from our Duel or are you just doing this like any other fine gentleman would?" Yasuko questioned.

Declan makes a shrug. "I suppose this is saying my apologies for causing you to get hurt like this," he said.

She looked a bit aggravated. "Aside from the fact that I've beaten you and saved a school full of mischievous, degenerate students who love to make a laugh out of everyone?" she teased in her usual deadpanned tone.

"Win or lose; a good duelist always needs to prepare for their failures, like how duelists need to take care of his or her body with rest, so that they can never repeat the same mistakes."

Yasuko gives him a nod that shows she understands his philosophy. "I suppose you're right." Yasuko reaches up to take his hand, and with one hard pull, Declan lifts her back on her feet.

"A deal's a deal, Mr. Declan," Yasuko pointed out. "And you hope to keep your end of the bargain."

"I will," Declan assured.

Yasuko tries to walk, but her left leg gives another stink that made girl cringe.

"Will be alright?" Declan asked.

"It'll be fine." Yasuko dismissed. "Just a bruise. Nothing serious or anything." She looks at his purple eyes. "But thanks."

Easing off the pressure from her left leg, she strolls back to the exit only to see someone else at the windows. She paused herself and saw Claude whispering to Henrietta something that made Julia gasp in shock.

"What about Professor Marco?!"

Yasuko raised an eyebrow of inquiry what Claude was whispering about that caused the Leo Institute students to be shocked.

Henrietta turned to the window, facing both Yasuko and Declan. At first sight, Yasuko is surprised to see that whatever Claude told her made her frightened. "Declan!" she called to her son.

Declan's Duel disk activates a video chat to speak with Claude. "What is it, Claude?" Declan asked.

"I'm afraid that there been an emergency, Mr. President," Claude informed. He began to explain to Declan in a quiet conversation that Yasuko couldn't hear.

When Claude was done, Declan's eyes narrowed and immediately starts walking out of the stadium. "Excuse me, but I must be on my way," he said. Declan was in a rush to get out and head back to his headquarters to debrief what situation has happened while the duel began. Henrietta, Claude, and the Leo Institute students follow behind him until Yuya stopped him briefly with a small question of his own.

"W-Wait... Who are you!?" Yuya snapped. "What's your name!?"

Declan stopped and turned to the Entertainment duelist. "Declan Akaba." The President of LDS announced before he continued to move out with his mother, the students, and his assistant.

* * *

 **Alright, here is part 2 and I hope you've enjoyed reading up to this point. For those who are wondering about her deck. The deck setup is mostly high leveled Dragons and Dragon support monsters.**

 **Normally, I was going with Spellcasters, but that can be used for another project. The reason why I've chosen to do a Dragon-type duelist is that in every franchise, there has to be a rival who is in possession of a Dragon ace monster. It is a tradition passed down in every series. And since Arc-V had strayed away from it, I believe it is necessary to have someone who's a rival with a Dragon-type signature card.**

 **Though her true signature ace is still unknown, perhaps it could be something else besides Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon. Give yourself a guess. Anyways, I hoped you like it so far. Stay tunes for more updates and don't forget to review what you thought of this story so far.**


	14. Chapter 14: The Rivalry's Beginning

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. This is not for profits or advertisement; it is for the sole purpose of Entertainment.**

* * *

 _Chapter 14: The Rivalry's Beginning; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Yuya Sakaki Part 1_

* * *

After the duel with Declan, Yasuko has to make sure that the injury was not so serious. Slowly walking out of the arena, she opens the door. Everyone in the watch room all approaches around her. Surrounded by the You-Show students is the last thing Yasuko wanted. All she needed is somewhere to sit down.

"Yasuko!" Zuzu called to her.

"Yasuko, are you alright?" Allie asked her.

"Are you okay?" Tate asked

"Nothing serious," Yasuko dismissed.

Yasuko slow walks to a nearby couch. Everyone gets out of her way to let her take a seat. Rubbing her shin, Yasuko could the sting coming from the area where she hit earlier. "Hey, can one of you go grab my gym bag?" she requested.

"I'll go get it." Tate runs off to find her gym bag.

While Tate goes searching for her gym bag, Yasuko turns to the rest of them. "Does this place have an ice pack?"

"Yeah." Zuzu hurried over to find an ice pack. Yasuko is easing the pain. She removes her boot and rolls up the hems of her jeans. The shin area had a bruised spot in the middle, but it didn't seem bigger than a thumb.

"Does it hurt?" Allie asked out of concern.

"Just bruised, nothing else," Yasuko assured.

"Well, you did take a hit back there," Sora pointed out.

Yasuko gives him a look. "That's so reassuring, Sora," she said sarcastically.

She elevates the leg to lay it flat on the couch to ease off the pressure. It didn't take long for Tate to return with her gym bag and Zuzu to come back with a pack of ice with her father coming along as he kneels to check for anything serious with her shin area.

"How's the injury look?" Shuzo asked.

"I don't even know," Zuzu answered to her father. She offers the ice pack for Yasuko to take and said her thanks to the girl.

Shuzo nodded. He gets up and walks to the nearest phone. "I'll go call your parents to pick you up."

"Do you have a pencil and a paper?" Yasuko asked.

Frederick looks over to find some paper and a pen. He gives them to her, and she wrote down several key numbers for Yasuko to give to Shuzo.

"This is Diana's number," she informed. "Tell her to find the You-Show Duel School." Shuzo takes the small piece of paper to go and call her caretaker.

Everyone turns back to Yasuko and their mood changes to joy.

"Still, you did it, Yasuko!" Allie cheered. "You saved the You-Show!"

"Thank you, Yasuko! Nobody didn't expect you to make such a powerful comeback!" Tate beamed. "To think you can Synchro and Pendulum Summon! That was awesome!"

"It was so awesome that it makes me get the shivers!" Fredrick shivered.

Yasuko makes a shrug off from her shoulders. "It's called problem-solving, and dueling solves most of the problems."

Zuzu had a gratified smiled. "But you save You-Show," she smiled. "And we are all grateful for you."

Yasuko did not make a smile for her, but her mouth twitched again. "You're welcome," said Yasuko. The girl turns the small blue haired kid.

"Hey Tate," she called. "Can you pass me my bag?"

"Uh…okay." Tate passes her gym bag, and Yasuko unzips to find what she needs to help with her leg.

Taking out a pair of scissors and some black tape from her bag, Yasuko turns to Zuzu. "Zuzu," she said. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Uh, okay," Zuzu complied.

Yasuko told her about kinesiology tape and how to apply it to injuries that go from sprains to cramps. She carefully instructs Zuzu to cut the tape in three strips, four-inches each. When Zuzu cuts three, four-inch pieces of tape, Yasuko teaches her to cut the corner into curves. She did as she was told and Yasuko starts applying the tape to make sure that it has only fifty percent stretch in the middle and little-to-no stretch at the end of each strip. She repeated the process until her leg was covered with kinesiology tape.

"And that's folks is how you use these tapes," Yasuko explained. "It's good for rehabilitation and many things, but don't use them when you have cuts. These only apply to the bruises and pains."

"Oh…" the three kids chorused in understanding.

"That's something useful," Zuzu commented.

Yasuko rolls down her hem and pulls her sock over the taped areas of her leg. She puts her boot back on and lets herself stand up carefully to see if she can still walk with the condition of her left leg. She can feel the stretch material on her skin expanding, but the injury has temporarily receded until then.

"Will you be alright with that tape on?" Zuzu asked.

"I'll be fine," Yasuko assured. "Trust me, when you do parkour, you tend to get these a lot."

Zuzu nodded. "I guess we all owe you for saving us. Right, Yuya—" Zuzu assured until she turned to see him. He looked very depressed with his goggles on. "Y-Yuya?" Zuzu asked in worry.

Everyone else turned to the boy. Yasuko noticed that he had his one-eyed, star goggles on. His head was sullen, facing down at the floor.

Gongenzaka and Sora did the same thing and followed their gaze to Yuya. He was muttering something below his breath that no one could hear.

"Why…why can they Pendulum? How can they Pendulum Summon?" Yuya whispered to himself. "I…I don't understand…Pendulum Summon…it was supposed to be my thing!" His teeth gritted hard when he thought of Declan and Yasuko doing a Pendulum Summon.

Shuzo came back shortly after. "I just spoke with your guardian, and she said she should be on her way," he informed.

"Thank you," said Yasuko.

"And I trust that you will be okay?" Shuzo asked.

"The bruise will probably be there, but other than that, I should be fine," Yasuko assured.

"And since she won the tie-breaker, I'd say she deserves a lot more than what we give her for," Sora admitted. His comment didn't help anybody, ticking the three little kids along with Zuzu and Gongenzaka. They got insulted, twitching their faces in shame after their loss.

Yasuko had to agree with Sora mentally. Yuya won only one of the duel; Zuzu lost to Julia, and Gongenzaka ties up with Yabia. Yasuko wanted to say it's true; however, the three kids all turned on Sora for his lack of participation.

"Like you should talk about it!" Tate argued. "You didn't even Duel!"

"You big chicken!" Allie agreed.

"The You-Show Duel School has no need you!" Fredrick added.

Sora gives a sheepish smile to the little kids. "Yeah, yeah…sorry about that." he apologized. "I was just making a brief observation."

Sora then started to walk out of the school, causing the teacher to turn to him. "Ah, hey! Where are you going, Sora?!" Shuzo tries to call him back, but the sky-blue haired boy keeps walking until he exits out of the school.

The teacher turns to his three youngest students in a disappointing glare. "Don't go saying stuff like that!" Shuzo scolded. "That wasn't the nicest thing to say, you guys!"

"Just forget someone like him!" Fredrick retorted.

"Yeah, you heard what he said," Allie added. "He calls us losers!"

"Still, it was rude to outcast your classmates," Yasuko protested, catching the three kids' attention. "Just because he doesn't want to duel doesn't mean you have the right to throw him out." Her defense didn't even convince the kids. They all instead glare at Yasuko.

"Like you have anything to say about it!" Tate retorted.

Yasuko didn't even need to explain as she grabs something in her bag. When she found it, Yasuko takes it out and hands it over to Shuzo. "Here."

"Huh?" Shuzo got confused with a packet of papers stapled together. "What's this?" he asked.

Shuzo takes the papers to start looking over what they were until Yasuko revealed to him, "It's my application for the You Show."

Her announcement suddenly causes an uproar from the teacher to the depressed Yuya. He was looking at her shocked, the same reaction that Gongenzaka and Zuzu are giving. "After my brief observation, I've made up my mind," said Yasuko. "It's not the ideal school, but I'll take it."

Shuzo was practically shaking from the inside. The paper application was rattling as he could feel his blood boiling. "Y-you mean…" Shuzo didn't get to finish his sentence.

Yasuko nodded. "I've seen what I wanted to see; I've decided to attend You-Show," she proclaimed.

"What?!" The three kids chorused in shock.

"Huh?!" Zuzu gasped.

"Wait what?!" Yuya snapped. He could not believe that someone who can Pendulum Summon and who posses another "Odd-Eyes" is attending his school.

"It's not like I have interest for any competitions or anything with an audience." Yasuko makes a shrug off from her shoulders that she doesn't care. "It's just to keep myself occupied."

The three kids all had their mouths opened with dumbstruck written on their faces.

"You mean, you're going to join the You-Show Duel School?" Fredrick questioned.

"Will that be a problem?" Yasuko asked, but no one even dares to question her.

The mood changed from frustration and upset to being more relieved and grace that their numbers have significantly improved.

"That means Yasuko's going to be in You-Show!" Allie cheered with excitement on her face.

"But why?" Zuzu found her words to ask Yasuko.

"I don't know…" Yasuko said. "I just do." Even if she is joining them, Yasuko still has no apparent reason why. The only reason is that she can get her mother to stop persisting her on finding an activity that is related to Duel Monsters.

" _Mom, is this what you want me to do? What I should do out of this?"_ she mentally thought to herself. She was uncertain about You-Show. Her mother mentions duel schools a couple of times for maybe the longest of time. She keeps telling her that she was no interested because of their weird fads and themes. You-Show represents a whole lot of different experiences than any other schools. They don't hold any codes to follow. They're just random students wanting to duel.

"That means with Yasuko on our side; the Leo Institute would better watch out!" Tate proclaimed. "And if they do ever come back, I'll fight too!"

"Me too!" Allie joined.

"So will I!" Fredrick agreed.

The small blue-haired boy turned to Yuya Sakaki. "So, train us! Teach us with _your_ Pendulum Summoning, Yuya!" Tate asked.

The ongoing persistence from the young boy did not help Yuya lift his moody state. He was contempt about Declan and Yasuko making a Pendulum Summon that it's angering him to snap at the little boy. "Pendulum isn't _mine_ anymore, don't you get it!?" Yuya screamed with all of his frustration boiling inside. Tate was flinched back by his outburst before he was pushed aside from Yuya who was trying to run away

Shuzo moves to grab Yuya at the wrist. Yuya stops and sees his teacher looking firmly through his goggles.

"What is with the attitude, Yuya? Where do you think you're going?" Shuzo asked the upset Yuya, but he didn't answer back, so he continued. "I get that you're upset right now, but here's the deal pal; Pendulum Summon isn't just going to be your thing anymore."

Yuya's eyes widened behind his goggles. He never thought that his teacher would denounce his ownership of Pendulum Summon. He trusted Shuzo, and he's turning all everything he had upside down.

"Look, I get it Yuya," Shuzo continued. "You thought that Pendulum Summoning was your special deal and then some guy showed up and suddenly made a Pendulum Summon, and that throws your game off," Shuzo continues to talk it out. "And in the middle of the duel, Yasuko did the same thing too, and she succeeded in saving the school." Yuya gritted his jaws even tighter together as Shuzo continued. "I don't know how Declan Akaba managed to get some of those Pendulum Cards in that deck of his. I mean, for all we know, his company is developing them right now." His explanation shocked Yuya and the other students.

Yasuko turns to Shuzo, intrigued that he discovered who Declan Akaba is as well. "What company?" Zuzu repeated what Shuzo was talking about.

"He's talking about the Leo Corporation," Yasuko answered out of the blue.

Everyone in the room all faces the cynical girl who just began to explain who Declan is. "Declan Akaba is the current CEO of the Leo Corporation, the number one private corporation that produces and distributes the duel system that is today," Yasuko explained.

"How'd you know that?" Shuzo asked.

"I take the time to go over and research what this town had when I moved here," Yasuko replied. "And I'm guessing that the Leo Corporation is cooking up something new for once."

Shuzo nodded. "And with the amount of money and power he has at his disposal," said Shuzo, "he may have already unlocked the secrets of Pendulum Cards and to distribute them all over the world." No one took it hard than Yuya. His dream of being the only duelists who can Pendulum Summon crashes down with only a few words from his teacher.

Yasuko rechecks her time and picks up her gym bag to start walking out. "My business is done; I'm out of here," she called. "To tell you the truth, I only came here to drop off my application, but seeing how your day turned out, I kinda got dragged into that situation with the Leo Institute. See you all soon."

Seeing Yasuko leaving, Yuya couldn't help but think about her. First, she saves the school, then she wants to join the You-Show, and now she's leaving. What kind of person would want to join them if they don't have the spirit for the crowd?

Before Yasuko can walk right out of the door; however, Yuya yanks his wrist away from Shuzo's grip and runs after her. "Hold on, Yasuko!" Yuya yelled, his voice raised in anger. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Home," Yasuko answered without looking back at Yuya.

Yuya manages to catch up to her and stand in her way from the door. "I want to know something!" he retorted. Standing in front of Yasuko, he was glaring very hard at her through his goggles. Her cynical, deadpan face never flinches or waver to his anger. She didn't want to start a fight with him even after she just saved the school.

"If it takes too long, then shorten it," said Yasuko.

"Tell me...I want you to answer me...Where...Where did you get those Pendulum Cards, Yasuko!?" he demanded. "And that Odd-Eyes…" he paused right there, flashbacking to the image of the blue-scaled bone armored dragon with heterochromia eyes. "Where did you get that dragon?! Did you knew that I had Pendulum cards and an Odd-Eyes before we met?"

He waited for her to answer those questions, but she didn't make a word out of her mouth. Her frown was trying to match at his glare. When she didn't answer immediately, Yuya continued to press forward. "Answer me, Yasuko!" he demanded angrier.

Yasuko closed her eyes briefly and turned her head away while trying to answer him honestly in her opinion. "I don't know how or where I got the Pendulum Cards," she clarified. "Those cards I had weren't Pendulum cards before."

Yasuko opens her eyes to look into Yuya's. "But, I will not deny that I have known about Odd-Eyes," she acknowledged. "I only met you since I got here. And when I saw your match with the Sledgehammer with another Odd-Eyes on tv, I couldn't help but realize I wasn't the only one in this city with a powerful card."

Somewhere inside, something in his heart just snapped into two. Yuya forces his hand to remove his goggles and looks at her eyes directly without the lens. "You knew, and you didn't tell me!?" he questioned.

Yuya was glaring so hard at Yasuko that his frown would stay that way to keep all his anger and frustration on Yasuko. Her eyes narrow through his own, burning their sight with the image of themselves hating each other.

"What's your big deal?" Yasuko snapped. "They're just Pendulum cards!"

"They're not _just_ Pendulum cards!" Yuya protested. "They're _my_ special type of Pendulum Cards!"

Their faces are probably a few inches closer to each other. "If what the principal said is true, then your Pendulum Cards couldn't have been made by the Leo Corporation!" he accused. "When we dueled Sylvio and that other guy, you didn't even use your Odd-Eyes until now! So, how!? Where did you get those cards!?" Yuya snapped angrily.

When he asked her, he didn't get a response from her. Yasuko stands there glaring at him. "I said—where did you get those cards!" Yuya demanded.

"Why should I tell you?" she retorted back. "You think Pendulum cards are going to be yours? Well, guess what?! You're gonna have to face the music! Pendulum Summon isn't _yours_ anymore! Get used to it, bub!" Yuya was taken back by her retort. It was like needle pin sticking inside of his heart. It struck him so hard that his face gives into the pain.

Yasuko pushed Yuya out of her way and walks back to the door. "This is stupid! I'm out of here!"

Yuya's jaws tighten, glaring at Yasuko. "So that's it? You're just gonna walk away and leave it like that? Beating Declan and leave with an application to join our school? What a joke!" Yuya bellowed. "You think you're helping us, but no different than Sylvio when it comes to dueling! You're just a hot-tempered princess who doesn't know how to have fun and only cares for yourself, you freak!"

Like a branch snapping into two, a feeling inside of Yasuko suddenly made her halt her steps. Her body froze. Her head seems to be shaking from Yuya's words. She was like a statue. She heard his words clearly, and she does not like it. Her gym bag slips from her hand and falls from her shoulder.

Suddenly, Yasuko pivots herself around and walks fast to Yuya—

 _SLAP!_

Zuzu gasped in horror and so did everyone else when Yasuko came to Yuya and made a very hard slap across his face. Yuya grunts in pain, feeling the burning sensation coming to the left cheek. He held his cheeks that are turning red from the slap and see Yasuko's death glare. His eyes are wide open when he saw his Yasuko reacted to his insult.

Yasuko's glare burns through his eyes. She had the look of a snake ready to bite in defense with its venom. "How dare you?!" she retorted, voice cracking. "That's it! You want answers; then you're going have to _beat_ the answers out of my deck!" Yasuko march out of Yuya's way and to the entrance door.

Everyone could see the fire in her eyes. This was the first time they're seeing Yasuko reacting to Yuya's insult. Her glare never leaves her face even though she was not looking at Yuya.

"Wait a minute, Yasuko! You don't have to do this!" Zuzu tried to calm her down, but Yasuko shoves her out to the way.

"Stay out of this, princess!" she snapped, glancing halfway to the boy. "Yuya just made this personal." Her line gives a small hiss at the end. Yasuko refuses to talk to Zuzu or anybody as she kicks the door open to get inside the arena.

Shuzo narrowed his eyes, regarding how two people with different Odd-Eyes grew hostile at the instant. "Then that's how it is then!" He points at Yuya. "Yuya Sakaki, you started this because you insulted her feelings, so now it's up to you to make it up!" he declared.

Much to Yuya's dismay, he never thought that he'd be dueling against Yasuko. "W-What?!" he gasped.

Shuzo got closer to his face. "You could've been proud of her and for her first Pendulum Summon! But instead, you offended her and looked at what you've done!" Shuzo clarified with an exclamation. "I hate to see my students getting into fights with each other! So the only way you're going to make it all up is in her language! With a Duel!"

"Dad, what are you saying?!" Zuzu snapped. "He just wants to be left alone," she convinced her father. "Can't you see that? Just give him some time, Dad!"

No matter how Zuzu tries to de-escalate the tensions in the room, it didn't stop her father from forcing Yuya in the dual arena.

Gongenzaka puts a hand on her shoulder to tell her how her father is serious about the issue. "You might wanna stay out of this one, Zuzu," he said.

Zuzu glanced at him and asked, "And why's that?" she continued to ask him questions. "Yasuko's no condition to Duel with that leg. Even if she get it taped, she could barely run with it." Zuzu takes a look through the window, staring at Yasuko who had her arms crossed, waiting impatiently for Yuya. She was focused on Yasuko's left leg, remembering how she hurt her shin area during her duel with Declan.

"Because Yasuko is offended," Gongenzaka pointed out. He then takes a look over to Yasuko. "Hearing Yuya calling her a freak got her pissed. Just look at her eyes."

Yasuko's furious silent glare grew more impatient with every second counting. "Even if you try to convince her, there's no way she's going to let that comment slide." Zuzu takes a glance at the cynical girl's eyes. Gongenzaka was right about Yasuko. The blue eyes looked like they are burning with determination; the determination to fight even with that leg.

Zuzu couldn't think what Yasuko might do with her leg. She realized what she has to do and ran to the back, taking out her Duel Disk, startling Gongenzaka. "Hey!" Gongenzaka started until he noticed on what Zuzu was planning to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, Yuya was being dragged into the duel arena by Shuzo. He was having a hard time trying to get out of Shuzo's grip, but he held his wrist tightly until he stops in front of Yasuko.

He yanks his wrist away and glares at his teacher. "I haven't agreed to do this!" Yuya retorted.

"It does not matter whether you agreed to this or not!" Shuzo scowled, glaring down at his student. "The point is…" Shuzo then looked over to Yasuko. "The both of you are going have to make up your hostility!" Shuzo informed. "I can't tolerate kids who are being rude to their classmates."

"This isn't about us fighting over who had Pendulum Cards or an Odd-Eyes, professor," Yasuko interrupted, causing the teacher to turn to her in shock. "This is about repentance. If Yuya wants to be a crybaby over this, then I'll be the one who's gonna straighten him out."

Yuya turned to her in anger. "You're the one to talk!" he retorted. "First, you Synchro Summon, and now you Pendulum Summon! What is there to hide?!"

"I don't need to tell that coming from someone who is selfishly stubborn about Pendulum," Yasuko snapped. "I see no difference in you, Yuya. You're just like all the other duelists. Being all high and mighty, thinking you are superior in Duel Monsters." She then points the finger at him. "I'm gonna show you what Pendulum Summon really means to me!"

Deciding not to let the hostility escalate any further, Shuzo looked up to Gongenzaka in the controls room. "Is everything ready?" he asked.

"I haven't said yes!" Yuya protested.

Shuzo ignores him and proceeds to leave out of the arena. "It's go time, Yasuko and Yuya!" Shuzo declared. "Gongenzaka?"

"Yep!" he responded.

"Then fire it up!" Shuzo declared.

"Action Field Spell on!" Gongenzaka shouted. "I activate the Action Field Spell; Showtime Street!" Gongenzaka sets the Action Field; **Showtime Street**. He turns the arena into a street with so many lights. The field changes into a city night street and sidewalks surrounded by a variety of luxurious shops, restaurants, cafes, and even a telephone booth standing with colored rings and foot platforms floating around. All the kids were fascinated by the appearance of the field to be amazing to see.

"Oh wow!" Tate said.

"So awesome!" Frederick beamed.

"Look at the lights!" Allie added.

Zuzu comes by shortly after the arena changed. "Can this be?" Zuzu wondered.

Yasuko looks around her to see every detail in the buildings, and the bright street light poles were illuminating the night sky. "What kind of a field is this?" Yasuko asked, unfamiliar with the Action Field Spell.

Yuya was bewildered when the Action Field Spell turned on. He seems to notice the familiarity of the Action Field. He was looking around from the buildings in front of him and across from him. He saw this when his father was dueling against other opponents in the Action Field Spell, but this was something else.

"This is my dad's field," said Yuya.

Yasuko turned all of her attention to the Entertainment duelist. "Your dad's field?" she wondered.

"That's right, Yasuko," Shuzo answered.

Both duelists face toward Shuzo who is now standing from the audience room. "You see, this Action Field Spell is called "Showtime Street," an Action Field where Yuya's father, Yusho Sakaki, is at his best. I've asked Gongenzaka to choose this field because this is the perfect field to settle a problem," he explained.

The hot-boiled teacher turns to the girl. "You may only know who Yusho is through past news articles and Internet videos, but if you've lived here long enough to see him, then you should know how great his Entertainment Dueling was." Emotions are filling in his voice as he described who Yusho really is from his point of view. "You should've seen him in Action Duels; I bet you'd be surprised to see how he does it."

Yasuko looks around the field from the streets to the lights from the buildings. She was imagining how Yusho would do using the field. "So this means this is the field where Entertainment Duel began then?" she asked.

"Correct!" Shuzo answered. "Entertainment Duel as well as any other Action Duels all originated on this field."

Yasuko turned to the teacher with anger written on her face. "So what?" Yasuko questioned. "I'm only dueling Yuya because he—" she points at the red-green haired boy, "—never learns to understand what will happen if he cross paths with someone he doesn't know." Yasuko's eyes frown at him. "I'm going to show you what a real duel is all about."

Yuya was angry at the insulting comment and faced her with a matching glare. "You think I don't know how real dueling is?!" he snapped, raising both of his fists in the air.

"From what I see how you duel back at the Leo Stadium and with Hokuto, I'd say that's crap," Yasuko replied to Yuya rudely. "You think you're an Entertainment Duelist? Get real! You're just the biggest crybaby who's selfish about keeping Pendulum Summon all to yourself!"

Yuya's anger was boiling so hot that it could melt the floor if it drips. His teeth gritted where it starts to hurt. "Don't you dare say that about me! If you want to see how I duel, then I'll show you what I can do!" Yuya shouted. He takes out his duel disk from his cargo pocket and throws it to let his left wrist catch it. He raised his arm, and the yellow blade glows out from his magenta duel disk.

With a swipe of her hand, Yasuko takes out her Duel disk from her holster and throws it in the air. The device attaches itself to her left wrist as the blue blade emits out of her disk.

Yasuko readies herself to confront the Entertainment duelist. With two duelists ready; they can now begin the match to determine who is the better Pendulum user.

"Two duelists stepping into the arena for battle!" Yuya chanted.

"But only one shall emerge victorious!" Yasuko also chanted.

"A clash of spirits!" said Yuya.

"And the battle of wits!" Yasuko called.

"Witness the greatest evolution of dueling!" they chorused together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP: 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Yuya Sakaki (LP: 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!"**_

The bubble holding the Action Cards dispersed, raining the sky with Action cards everywhere. The city lights turn on, resembling a lot like the City Time Square in New York City.

 **Turn 1: Yasuko (5x cards)**

"I'll go first!" Yasuko declared. "I draw!" Yasuko draws a card form her deck. She looks down at her hand, and that's when she realized that her Odd-Eyes monsters weren't the _only_ ones that are Pendulum monsters.

Taking two cards out of her hand, she shows them to Yuya that she doesn't just have only Odd-Eyes as one of her first Pendulum cards she obtained. "I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 1 Dragonpulse Magician and my Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician!" Yasuko announced. "I'm gonna show you how I control the duel right now!" And with that, Yasuko sets the **Dragonpulse Magician (Scale 1)** and **Dragonpit Magician (Scale 8)** on each end of her blue blade, forming the rainbow "PENDULUM" word on the blade.

Between Yasuko are two pillars of light with two new monsters on the field. On the left pendulum scale is a boy with very long braid behind his peach hair and a two-sided sword wearing a jumpsuit and white coat on top appears. The right pendulum scale is a young man with blond spikey hair and a large coat over his jumpsuit wielding a staff that has a big circle at the end. Two new pendulum monsters rose together with their respective scale numbers beneath them.

Yuya is surprised to see Yasuko doing a Pendulum Summon. "What?" he wondered. "Already?"

In response, Yasuko's crystal keychain pendant is glowing brightly from her jean loop. "With these two monsters, I can simultaneously Pendulum Summon any monsters between levels 2 and 7!" Yasuko stated. " _Hear my soul roaring upon thy! I call forth the energy of my heart to unleash the flame of solemnity from within! I_ _ **Pendulum Summon**_ _! Bring forth, my monsters!"_ A portal opens up above Yasuko with three beams of light raining down to make three monsters to appear before her.

"I summon Blizzard Dragon, Dwarf Star Dragon Planter, and Assault Wyvern!" Yasuko Pendulum Summons **Blizzard Dragon (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)** , **Dwarf Star Dragon Planter (ATK 1700/DEF 1200)** , and **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**.

On her field is consisting of three dragons that are unlike any other. The first one is the icy blue dragon; the other is a dragon that has an orb patch on its chest while it divides the flaming body on the left side and the dark armored scales on the right side, and the last one is a blue wyvern.

"Wow...she did a Pendulum Summon on her first turn!" Tate called.

"It was so cool to see her Pendulum!" Frederick added. "I think I'm going to get the shivers!"

Not everyone was happy with the Pendulum Summon. Yuya was glaring at Yasuko. He was growing furious when he sees someone else do a Pendulum Summon.

Yasuko scowls back at him. "What the hell are you glaring at?" she questioned. "I just Pendulum Summon and now you're pissed?"

"Shut up, Yasuko!" Yuya snapped. "You don't understand what it feels like when someone else took your special talent!"

" _Your_ special talent? There is nothing special about Pendulum Summon, you idiot!" Yasuko retorted. "You see it as your own special technique." Yuya continues to glare at her as she speaks to him. "But all I see is just a stupid new Extra Deck technique," she stated. "And I'm gonna show it to you what I mean! I use my Blizzard Dragon and Assault Wyvern to build the Overlay Network!" At her command, the blue dragon turns into a yellow light while the blue wyvern becomes gold. The two lights shoot up before falling into the galaxy portal below her feet.

The audience are full of astonishment. Yasuko can not only do a Synchro Summon but also do an Xyz Summon. It is the first time that they've seen her do another Extra Deck technique in a duel.

"What?!" Gongenzaka exclaimed.

"She can do an Xyz Summon?!" Zuzu gasped with shock in her eyes.

"No way!" The three kids chorused together.

"Isn't there anything this girl can't do?!" Shuzo wondered.

Yuya gasped, mouth ajar when Yasuko went straight from Pendulum to Xyz Summon at her first turn. "An Xyz Summon?! And on your first turn!?"

Yasuko's eyes are narrowing down at Yuya. "There are a lot of things that you _don't_ know about me!" she exclaimed. Her blue eyes glow under the shadows of her head when the galaxy portal shoots a bright pillar of fire.

" _Queen of the dragons! Comes on out and play a burning melody that will laminate all the dragons with your notes! Let your royal degree give peace to your servants!_ I _**Xyz Summon**_ _! Arise! Rank 4! Queen Dragun Djinn!_ " Yasuko chanted as she Xyz Summons **Queen Dragun Djinn** **(ATK 2200/DEF 1200)**. Out of the firey pillar is a blonde female campe with the upper body as a woman and the lower body as the flaming dragon with two orange glowing orbs roving around her. Her purple armor covers her chest, and red slit eyes stared at Yuya with a smile while holding a dragon-shaped harpy.

"Whoa! Yasuko went from Pendulum Summon to an Xyz Summon at the instant," Allie said in awe.

"It's giving me the shivers!" Frederick quavered.

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn." Yasuko finishes her turn as she Sets a card face-down. "And now, Dwarf Star Dragon Planter's monster effect activates!"

"Huh?" Yuya inquired.

"Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter allows me to add one level 7 LIGHT or DARK monster from my deck to my hand on the turn it was summoned." Her disk shows her all of level 7 LIGHT or DARK monsters in her deck. Yasuko scrolls down and decides to pick **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon**. Her deck ejects the card, and she takes without saying anything.

 **Turn 2: Yuya (5x cards)**

"It's my turn now!" Yuya called. "I draw!" Yuya draws a card from his deck. He looks down at his hand and sees that he has five monster cards and a trap card. He also has his two signature Pendulum cards; Timegazer and Stargazer Magicians. He looks at his opponent's side of the field where Yasuko has only two strong monsters on the field.

" _If Yasuko thinks she can Pendulum Summon, then she better think again,"_ he mentally thought to himself before he takes out his two signature Pendulum monsters.

"I'll use the Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and the Scale 8 Timegazer Magician to set the Pendulum Scale!" Yuya stated. "I'm taking control of the duel starting now!" Like Yasuko, Yuya sets his **Stargazer Magician** **(Scale 1** **)** and **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8)** on both edges of his yellow blade, creating the rainbow "PENDULUM" word.

Between Yuya is the star wizard, and the time wizard who rises in the pillar of light and floats on top with their respective scale numbers before and a giant pendulum appearing above the duelist. Yuya's pendant started to glow in response to his Pendulum.

"With these two monsters, I'm allowed to Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 2 and 7 all at the same time!" Yuya stated. " _Swing! Pendulum of the Soul! Carve the arc of the ether!_ I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _! My monsters are ready…to swing into action!"_ From the small portal above Yuya, three multiple lights descend from the gateway to emerge as their monster forms.

"I summon Performapal Whip Snake, Performapal Ballad, and Performapal King Bear!" Yuya Pendulum Summons **Performapal Whip Snake** **(ATK 1700/DEF 900)** , **Performapal Ballad (ATK 500/DEF 1100)** , and **Performapal King Bear (ATK 2200/DEF 1000)**. On his side of the field, he has three monsters. One was a purple cobra with a magician hat and a bow tie; the other is a female ballad performer with two fence swords wearing a pink cape and a hat that is shaped like a rose; and lastly is a orange grizzly bear that is wearing drapes and a cape like a king with a crown on its head.

Yasuko's eyes narrow in disappointment. Yuya is probably holding out against her. "Are you serious…" she retorted. "You didn't Pendulum Summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon? How pathetic."

"Be quiet!" Yuya snapped. "I use Whip Snake's special effect on your Queen Dragun Djinn! Once per turn, my Whip Snake can switch the ATK points of one monster on the field to its DEF points until the end of the turn!" As Yuya explained, the purple cobra uses its hypnotic watch to turn the fire campe's attack points to her defense points.

 **(Queen Dragun Djinn: ATK 2200** → **1200)**

"Oh no!" Allie gasped. "Queen Dragun Djinn's ATK points are way too low!"

"And with only 1200 ATK points, Yasuko's going to take a major hit from this one!" Tate added.

"Battle!" Yuya declared. "Performapal King Bear, take out her Queen Dragun Djinn!" The king grizzly springs out his its claws and charges for the queen dragun. "And now, Performapal King Bear's special effect activates! During the Battle Phase, this monster gains 100 ATK points for every "Performapal" monsters that I control on the field, and since I have Whip Snake and Ballad, that means it gains 200 ATK points!" An orange aura glows around the king grizzly, boosting its attack points.

 **(Performapal King Grizzly: ATK 2200** → **2400)**

Yasuko grits her teeth. "I activate Dragonpit Magician's Pendulum effect!" she shouted.

"What?!" Yuya gasped in shock.

"Once per turn, if I have a "Magician" in my Pendulum Zone, I can discard one Pendulum monster from my hand to destroy your Spell or Trap card on the field!" Yasuko discards her **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon** to the graveyard and raises her hand in the air. "Now Dragonpit Magician, destroy Timegazer Magician!" The dragonpit sorcerer lifts his staff over and aims it directly at the time wizard. With a bolt of blue lightning, the dragonpit sorcerer blasts the time wizard in an explosion.

"Uh?! What the?!" Yuya can't help but to gasp at Yasuko's ability to destroy his Pendulum monster.

Everyone at the You-Show are entirely shocked that Yasuko was able to destroy Yuya's signature Pendulum monster that was in his Pendulum Zone. Their eyes widened.

"Oh no!" Tate gasped.

"Timegazer Magician!" Allie bawled.

"But Timegazer isn't a Spell Card; it was a Pendulum Monster!" Frederick complained.

Yasuko's eyes narrow to the audience in the window. "You seem to forget that when Pendulum monsters are set in the Pendulum Zones," she pointed out. "They're not monsters; they're Spell Cards."

Shuzo finally realized what Yasuko meant. He was very impressed with Yasuko's explanation. "I see, and since Yasuko destroyed Timegazer Magician, it goes only to the Extra Deck," he clarified.

"What was that for?" Yuya asked.

In response, Yasuko expects him to attack, so she was prepared. "So I can do this! I activate my Trap Card!" Yasuko declared as she plays her face-down Trap Card; **Dimensional Prison**. "Dimensional Prison! When you attack me with a monster, that monster is banished!"

Yuya's mouth opened. "Eh?!"

Zuzu realized what the girl did. "And without Timegazer Magician, that means it cannot be protected!" Zuzu gasped.

In front of the queen dragun, something rips a giant hole in the space-time continuum. The king grizzly stops and trying to pull back, but it was sucked in. The gap disappears, leaving Yuya with only his two monsters.

"Oh no!" Allie cried. "Yuya's strongest monster is gone!"

"But don't worry," Tate reassured. "It's a Pendulum Monster, so it'll go into the Extra Deck like always."

Frederick nodded. "Yeah, so Yuya can Pendulum Summon again like the last time."

Yasuko turns her head slightly. "I don't think you've fully understood, don't you?" she asked which cause the three kids to turn to Yasuko in surprise. "When a Pendulum Monster is destroyed in the Pendulum Zone or Field, _then_ it goes to the Extra Deck, but if it was banished, then it can never come back."

Gongenzaka slams his hand on the controls. "What?!" he gasped. "You mean that…" Yasuko's words are processing already through everyone's head.

"Wait, so that means–" Tate said.

"He cannot Pendulum Summon King Bear if it was banished!?" Zuzu revealed, causing the audiences in the observer room to look at her with wide open eyes.

Even Yuya's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" He looks down at his disk. He didn't even look into what would happen if a Pendulum monster is banished. "You mean, I cannot summon my monster?"

"Yep," Yasuko replied.

"So that's why she uses her magician's pendulum effect first!" Tate realized. "She knew that Timegazer Magician negates any Trap cards that would target a Pendulum monster!"

"So then, she used her magician's pendulum effect to destroy Yuya's magician?" Frederick puzzled.

"Very bold, and clever," Shuzo commented. "This girl seems to know what she's doing."

"But this is bad for Yuya," said Zuzu. "Because Yasuko destroyed Timegazer Magician in his Pendulum Zone, he cannot Pendulum Summon unless he has another Pendulum monster to finish the Pendulum Scale."

Yuya looks back up in shock. Yasuko has discovered a weak spot in his Pendulum powers. He didn't think for once Yasuko was able to find a hole in just a short period and this is the first time they are dueling each other. Even though the revelation shocked him, he is continuing with his move.

"But still, that doesn't mean I cannot use Whip Snake to attack your monster!" Yuya hasn't forgotten that he still has his purple cobra. "Whip Snake attacks your Queen Dragun Djinn!" The purple cobra springs itself up into the air before descending to destroy the weakened Xyz monster.

Yasuko isn't going down so quickly. "You think I wasn't expecting that?" Yasuko said as she raised her hand to the campe monster. "I activate my Queen Dragun's special effect! Once per turn, I can Detach one Overlay Unit to Special Summon a level 5 or higher Dragon-type monster from my graveyard, but it cannot attack during the turn I use my Queen Dragun's effect, and its effects are negated!"

"Since when did you have a level 5 or higher Dragon monster!?" Yuya asked.

"Since I used Dragonpit Magician's Pendulum effect to destroy your Timegazer Magician," Yasuko replied.

Yuya then realized something and had a flashback to when Yasuko discarded one card from her hand to activate her pendulum effect. There was only one higher level Pendulum monster that Yasuko has, and he cannot deny it. "You mean," Yuya uttered. "You have it? The Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon in your graveyard!"

"What did you think I was doing?" Yasuko questioned. "I'm using Pendulum to my advantage." Yasuko points at the field. "I'm bringing to the field, Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!"

 **(Queen Dragun Djinn: OU 2** → **1)**

The campe's orange glowing orb was grabbed by the blonde, and she starts playing a melody that soothes into the duelist's ears. The campe plays it until a portal opens up to Special Summon **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. From the portal, the blue scaled bone armored dragon with red and green heterochromia eyes emerges from the hole and roars with life. Its roar was so loud that it might have caused the windows from all around to vibrate.

"No way. She found a loophole in Yuya's Pendulum and brought her Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon to the field," Zuzu said, intimidated by the sudden appearance of Yasuko's strongest monster.

"I can't believe Yasuko was able to bring out her strongest monster on the field," said Tate.

"Seeing that dragon again gives me the goosebumps!" Fredrick replied.

"But it's effects are negated, does Yasuko have some sort of plan?" Allie inquired.

"Probably," Shuzo responded. "Cuz this duel is going to get a whole lot of worse now."

Despite the marvelous sight of the phantom dragon, it was making Yuya angrier than ever. "Even if you did have your Odd-Eyes, my Whip Snake still has its attack!" he retorted. Yuya's purple cobra descends and smacks the campe Xyz monster into oblivion, costing Yasuko her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3500)**

Yasuko barely flinched from his attack and is still standing. "Is that all that you've got there?" she scoffed. "I want to see your fire burning into my eyes when I extinguish all that hate out."

Yuya raises his hand to the female ballad. "Performapal Ballad's special effect activates!" Yuya exclaimed. "When a "Performapal" monsters attacks, after the damage calculation, I can target one monster on your field, and that monster loses ATK points equal to the "Performapal" monster's that attacked!" The boy raises his hand to the purple cobra. "Whip Snake was the second one to attack, so that means your Odd-Eyes loses 1700 ATK points!"

The female ballad swings her two fencing sword over and crosses an "X" over to Phantom Dragon followed by the rosebuds the seemingly appear out of nowhere. It hits the dragon directly to reduce its attack points.

 **(Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: ATK 2500** → **800)**

Yasuko scowls at Yuya for weakening Phantom Dragon. "You bastard…" she murmured.

Yuya looks down at his last card that was in his hand. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn!" he concluded. Yuya Sets a card.

 **Turn 3: Yasuko (0x cards)**

Yasuko was eyeing on his face-down, expecting a counter-attack from his supposed Trap card on the field. "It's my turn!" Yasuko draws a card. "I draw!" She looks at it briefly and activates her Spell Card, **Pot of Extravagance**. "I activate the Spell Card; Pot of Extravagance!" Yasuko declared. "This card lets me banish up 3 or 6 random cards from my Extra Deck to draw a card for every 3 cards that were banished!"

Yuya is entirely shocked that the girl is going to banish cards from her Extra Deck. "From your Extra Deck!?" he gasped.

Everyone in the You-Show is appalled from Yasuko's move. Gongenzaka was the first to respond to her actions. "What the heck?!" he exclaimed. "She's banishings cards from her Extra Deck to draw a card? What is she thinking now!?"

Shuzo is very hyped of what Yasuko is planning considering that it is a risky move. "She's going to banish 3 or 6 cards to draw 1 or 2?!" he exclaimed.

"That's crazy!" Tate accused.

Yasuko swipes her duel disk. "I banish 6 cards from my Extra Deck to draw 2 cards!" From her duel disk, it ejects six random Extra Deck monsters. She puts them away and draws two cards from her Main Deck.

"From my hand, I summon Dragon Knight of Creation!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Dragon Knight of Creation (ATK 1800/DEF 600)**. From the street, a portal opens and out comes a golden knight that doesn't have an entire armor, only his head, waist, shoulders, and legs while he's holding a big sword.

"Next, I activate the Continuous Spell Card, Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords!" Yasuko declared as the face-up Continuous Spell Card; **Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords** appears in front of her. "If monsters were ever Special Summoned, except from the graveyard, while I control a level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster, then their effects are negated until the end of the turn!"

Yuya's eyes widened in shock. "What?!" he gasped. "You mean, if you control a level 7 or 8 dragon, then that means any monsters that were special summoned except the graveyard will have their effects negated? But why would you do that? If either of us Pendulum Summons, and you have a monster with a level 7 or 8, then we cannot use any monster effects!"

Yasuko's head lowers to shadow her eyes with her bangs. "Of course," she replied. "That also applies to Synchro, Fusion, Xyz, and Pendulum Summons."

The You-Show audiences didn't see this coming. None of them would expect Yasuko to place a handicap on herself if she is going to block out any attempts to deprive her opponents.

"But then that means Yasuko and Yuya cannot do anything with their monsters even if they were Pendulum Summoned!" Tate confided.

"Why would she do that?" Zuzu asked, confused about Yasuko's gameplay. "If she controls a Level 7 or 8 Dragon monster, then the effects of her Spell Card applies to her too."

Shuzo's face was leaning closer to the window, staring at the two duelists with different qualities. "I'm not even sure why, but by the looks of things, I'd say Yasuko is trying to do something," he speculated. "We all know how strong this girl is, but we don't know _how_ strong. She is very mysterious if I do say so myself."

Allie nodded. "Yasuko told us about Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon. Now, she's showing us that she can do two of them. Is she hiding something else that not even we don't want to know?" she wondered.

"Batte! Dwarf Star Dragon Planter, attack Performapal Ballad!" Yasuko declared. The dragon planter opens its jaws and fires a powerful flamethrower straight for the monster.

Yuya was expecting something like this to happen and he makes a counterattack. "Well, maybe you better think twice because I activate my Whip Snake's special effect!" Yuya exclaimed. "Once per turn, I can target one monster on your field and hypnotize its ATK points to become its DEF points until the end of the turn! So your Dragon Planter's ATK points become its DEF points!" The purple cobra with a bow tie takes out its pocket watch and swings it in front of dragon planet, causing it to lose all of its attack points.

 **(Dwarf Star Dragon Planter: ATK 1700** → **1200)**

"That's fine by me so long as I get to attack your monster!" Yasuko snapped. Despite the change in its attack points, the dragon planter was still stronger than the female ballad. The flamethrower disintegrates the female ballad who screams before causing a massive explosion to send shockwaves to Yuya.

 **(Yuya: LP 4000** → **3300)**

"You didn't forget that I still had my other two monsters, did you?" She points at the purple cobra. "Dragon Knight of Creation, take out Whip Snake!" The dragon knight brings up his sword up and jumps to slash the purple cobra before disintegrating, costing Yuya more life points.

 **(Yuya: LP 3300** → **3200)**

"Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, attack Yuya directly!" the girl declared. Phantom Dragon leaps up and blasts a powerful navy blue spiraling beam to Yuya. The boy reacts quickly and makes retaliation against her attack.

"I activate my Trap card! Performapal Revival!" Yuya activates his face-down Trap Card; **Performapal Revival**. "I can only activate this card if monsters that I control is sent to the graveyard by battle or card effect! With this card, I can Special Summon a "Performapal" monster that is in the graveyard or from my hand!" Yuya raises his hand to show Yasuko how it works. "Swing back into action, Performapal Whip Snake!" The trap card explodes in a pink smoke, and the purple cobra is back on the field.

Yasuko suddenly makes a break for a building. To everyone's surprise, Yasuko is moving. She runs as fast as she can, digging her boots on the brick before temporarily wall-running upwards. From there, she did a tic-tac over to grabs the ring. Using the momentum, she swings over to a platform that has a single Action Card and snatches it before she barrel-rolls on the ground.

"I activate the Action Spell Card! Attack and Defense Exchange!" Yasuko declared as she plays the Action Spell Card; **Attack and Defense Exchange**. "This card lets me target one monster on the field and switches its ATK and DEF points!" She raises her hand to Phantom Dragon. "And I choose to switch my Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon's ATK points to its DEF points!" Phantom Dragon is glowing blue from the reaction of the spell card.

 **(Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: ATK 800** → **2000)**

"Now, battle! Odd-Eyes, attack Whip Snake!" Phantom Dragon releases a powerful blue spiraling beam down to the purple cobra. The damage done to Yuya is still not sufficient.

 **(Yuya: LP 3200** → **2900)**

"I activate Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords' special effect!" she declared. "Once per turn, I can send one face-up card that I control to the graveyard to Special Summon one Dragon Lord Token!" She lifts up her hand to place it on Phantom Dragon's bone armor. "And I release Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon." As such, Phantom Dragon disappears under the bright light as the spell card Special Summons one **Dragon Lord Token (Dragon-type/LIGHT/Level 1) (ATK 0/DEF 0)** , a faded gold statue of a dragon in Defense Position. "Dragon Knight of Creation's special effect activates!" she declared. "When this card destroys a monster, I can send one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from the deck to the graveyard!" Yasuko's deck ejects one card from her Deck and sends it to the graveyard.

"I end my turn," Yasuko concluded. "And that means Dwarf Star Dragon Planter's ATK points return to normal."

 **(Dwarf Star Dragon Planter: ATK 1200** → **1700)**

 **Turn 4: Yuya (0x card)**

Yuya was starting to see how skilled Yasuko demonstrated. A display of power. She knows how to Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summon today. She even knows the weakness behind his Pendulum Summon. His field is empty. Only his star wizard remains in his Pendulum Zone. It was clear that Yasuko is strong; stronger than Delcan, and maybe than him. " _Oh man,"_ he mentally tells himself. _"Yasuko is no joke; she's going all out against me and with Pendulum on her side, I don't even know if I have what it takes to beat her."_ Deep down, Yuya is hoping to beat her with just the simplest things, but it would seem that she is nearly impossible to beat.

* * *

 **I actually enjoy writing this duel. It took a bit while, but it was fun to write. Still, not a lot of turns and cards like I planned, but I'm so going to enjoy writing more of these duels between the two characters later on. And I hoped you've enjoyed reading this first book. It's going to be a blast reading off this work. I will be sure to check for misspellings and grammar to make this work.**

 **And there will be more duels between these two characters, and I'm really going to enjoy writing about that. Don't forget to review what are your thoughts on this first book, and thank you for taking your time to read this.**


	15. Chapter 15: Yasuko's Pendulum

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. This is not for profits or advertisement; it is for the sole purpose of Entertainment.**

* * *

 _Chapter 15: Yasuko's Pendulum; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Yuya Sakaki Part 2_

* * *

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana: LP 3500 (0x card)**

 **VS**

 **Yuya Sakaki: LP 2900 (0x card)**

The duel between Yasuko and Yuya grows more intense with all of them blocking their attacks to damage each other. So far, it's closely even. None of them have any cards in their hands, but Yasuko has the major advantage in the duel

Yasuko has her two Pendulum magicians in her Pendulum Zones; **Dragonpulse Magician (Scale 1)** and **Dragonpit Magician (Scale 8)**. Her field has three monsters. All of them are **Dragon Knight of Creation (ATK 1800/DEF 600)** , **Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter (ATK 1700/DEF 1200)** , and one **Dragon Lord Token (Dragon-type/LIGHT/Level 1) (ATK 0/DEF 0)**. She has only one Continuous Spell Card; **Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords**.

She has maintained her field with cards while Yuya has none other than his **Stargazer Magician (Scale 1)** in his Pendulum Zone.

 **Turn 4: Yuya (0x card)**

The audience was stunned with the duel. Yasuko is making use of her Pendulum abilities well against Yuya. The two duelists are on equals, but the winning side in favor of Yasuko.

"This is getting intense," said Allie. "Yasuko has cards on her field while Yuya only has Stargazer in his Pendulum Zone."

"I don't even know who's gonna win," Tate awed. "Yuya or Yasuko? They're just too good."

"Just seeing two of them is giving me the shivers," Frederick breathed.

"But the real question is who is this girl?" said Zuzu, holding her hand to her heart. "Yasuko is as skilled as Declan, and Yuya can barely withstand her attacks."

Shuzo was watching the girl going out against Yuya. "Both duelists seem to be very strong enough to hold each other back, but Yasuko is overwhelming Yuya at almost everything," he said. "With Xyz, Synchro, and Pendulum Summon, I don't even think Yuya has what it takes to beat her."

Gongenzaka clenched his fist in front of him, narrowing down at the duel from the control room. "Come on, Yuya," he hoped. "You've got to find a way through."

Back to the duel, Yuya is thinking of many ways to beat Yasuko's monsters. _"If I'm gonna win against her, I have to give it my all!"_ His finger lays on his deck."It's my turn," he said. "I draw!" Yuya draws a card.

"And now, Dragon Knight of Creation's special effect activates!" Yasuko suddenly declared, much to everyone's surprise. "When it is my opponent's turn, Dragon Knight of Creation's level becomes level 8!" She raises her duel disk arm to her creation knight. "Watch!" A yellow aura glows around the creation knight as it's levels are increased.

 **(Dragon Knight of Creation: Level 4** → **8)**

Yuya is having more trouble with the duel. Now that Yasuko controls a level 8 monster, the effects of her spell card can negate any monsters that he Special Summons except from the graveyard. The more he and Yasuko duel, the harder it gets. It seems like they would counter each other before it happens.

"Why the confrontation?" Yasuko suddenly called to him in a question.

Yuya paused and looked up to the cynical duelist. "Huh?"

"Ever since Declan and I can do a Pendulum Summon, you've been moody. You said you're going to show me how you duel, but you've been trying to take me head-on." Yasuko's eyes stared hard at Yuya's as she continued. "Is that why you're trying to beat me with the same level of aggression as I have in this duel?" She could see how Yuya was stiffened when she talks about his feelings of seeing another person do a Pendulum Summon. "If it is, then you're nothing like Yusho Sakaki," she scowled.

"What was that?!" Yuya snapped, glaring at the duelist.

"You heard me," Yasuko snapped back. "You're not an Entertainment Duelist; I think you're just a poor sappy loser like what everyone in this town said."

Zuzu was pissed when Yasuko insulted her childhood friend. Her head was puffing steams out, and holds up her fist. "Okay!" she exclaimed. "Now she's going _way_ too far this time!"

Even Allie didn't like her attitude toward Yuya. "Not cool!"

Yasuko ignores the comments from the audience and continues to lecture Yuya. "Your mind is closed," she said. "You think you can beat me head-on with my cards, but you're mistaken. You can't even stand on two feet."

Yuya glared hard at Yasuko. "Are you saying that how I duel is pathetic?!" he inquired.

"That's what I'm thinking," Yasuko admitted, infuriating Yuya even more. "But if you want to deny me of everything that I said, then show me! Show me what kind of a duelist you are! Show me that you can do the impossible!"

"You want the impossible? I'll show you the impossible!" Yuya slams his hand and plays a monster card on his blade which Normal Summons **Performapal Handsamuraiger (ATK 1800/DEF 400)**. "I summon Performapal Handsamuraiger!" On his field comes a male warrior with red samurai armor and a white cape that had a gold star at the center wielding a katana.

"Battle!" Yuya declared. "Handsamuraiger! Attack Dwarf Star Dragon Planter!" The red samurai brings up his sword and makes a mad dash for the dragon planter. With three swift slashes, the monster explodes after being cut three times, damaging Yasuko's life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3500** → **3400)**

As debris flies around the girl, Yuya continues with his move. "Now Performapal Handsamuraiger's special effect activates!" Yuya declared. "When this card successfully destroys a monster in battle, I can add one level 5 or higher Pendulum monster from my Deck and add it to my hand!" Yuya's deck ejects one card, and he takes to show her what he has chosen. "And the card that I choose to add Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" His deck ejects one monster cards that he chose to select and take it, which is **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon**.

"I use my Scale 4 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to complete the Pendulum Scale!" And with that Yuya uses his **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (Scale 4)** to fill the Pendulum Zone on the right. The rainbow "PENDULUM" word reappears on the blade as the red-scaled dragon with dichromatic red and green eyes floats up beside the star wizard with its Pendulum Scale number below it.

"With these two monsters, I can Pendulum Summon monster between levels 2 and 3 simultaneously! I _**Pendulum Summon**_!" Yuya declared. _"Come forth, my monster servants!"_ Yuya makes the call to Pendulum Summon **Performapal Ballad** and **Timegazer Magician (ATK 1200/DEF 600)** in Defense Position. "Rise, Performapal Ballad! Timegazer Magician!" Yuya exclaimed. The female ballad and the time wizard appears on the field.

Yuya is in a tight spot. He knows that the token is weak against his monsters, but then, Yasuko has her Odd-Eyes in her Extra Deck and if she is bringing it out to the field could mean something dangerous can happen. He needs his Pendulum monsters back in the field to harden his defenses.

"I end my turn, and now, Odd-Eyes' pendulum effect activates!" Yuya stated. "During the End Phase, I can destroy my Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to add a Pendulum monster with 1500 or less ATK points to my hand!" Yuya raises his hand to demonstrate. "I destroy my Odd-Eyes to add Peformapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn to my hand!" Pendulum Dragon disappears in the Pendulum Zone, and Yuya takes out **Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn** to his hand.

 **Turn 5: Yasuko (0x card)**

"It's my turn!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. She looks at it, and it was clear that she needs to turn the duel to bolster her advantage.

"Dragon Knight of Creation's effect activates. On my turn, this card becomes a level 4." The yellow aura surrounds the creation knight again to reduce its level.

 **(Dragon Knight of Creation: Level 8** → **4)**

"I activate the Spell Card Pot of Dichotomy!" Yasuko activates her Spell Card; **Pot of Dichotomy**. "This card targets three monsters from my graveyard and shuffle them into my deck so that I can draw 2 cards!" Her graveyard slot brings out the cards that she wants to shuffle; **Blizzard Dragon** , **Assault Wyvern** , and **Dwarf Star Dragon Planter**. "I'm shuffling Blizzard Dragon, Assault Wyvern, and Dwarf Star Dragon Planter to my deck to draw 2 cards!" She inserts the three cards into her deck to make it shuffle and allowing her to draw two more cards.

"I _**Pendulum Summon**_!" Yasuko declared. " _Appear, blue dragon with heterochromia eyes of red and green!_ " Yasuko Pendulum Summons **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon**. "Rise again, Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The blue-scaled bone armored dragon appears before Yuya.

The boy is getting more anxious. He can feel sweat dripping down his side. "Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon," Yuya croaked.

"I activate Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords' effect!" Yasuko declared. "By releasing my Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, I'm allowed to Special Summon one Dragon Lord Token to the field!" Like before, Yasuko uses her Spell Card to send Phantom Dragon away to Special Summon a second **Dragon Lord Token (Dragon-type/LIGHT/Level 1) (ATK 0/DEF 0)**.

Yuya is baffled by her move. "What?" He is confused why Yasuko would Pendulum Summon her strongest monster just to Special Summon a token.

The audiences were also perplexed of Yasuko's strategy. "What's Yasuko doing?" Tate inquired. "Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon's got way more ATK points than any of Yuya's monsters."

"But she only needed it to Special Summon those tokens," Frederick pointed out.

Shuzo scrutinizes his eyebrows together, narrowing his eyes to the two token monsters in the field. "I don't like this," he said. "She's using Pendulum Summon to Special Summon those tokens. She knows that her Pendulum monster goes to the Extra Deck and not in the graveyard."

Zuzu turns to her father. "You mean she's using her Pendulum Summon to get one of those tokens?" she asked.

"Correct," Shuzo confirmed. "Think about it. Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords' effect lets her send any face-up card on her field to the graveyard to Special Summon one Dragon Lord Token." His eyes stare at the two dragon statues in front of the girl. "And since Odd-Eyes is a Pendulum monster, it goes to the Extra Deck."

Tate was also caught on with Shuzo's explanation. "That means…she can Pendulum Summon and use the spell card's effect over and over again to Special Summon those tokens."

"Wow," Allie and Frederick said in awe.

"That's amazing," said Zuzu. "I didn't know she can do that with Pendulum monsters."

"Neither did I," Frederick agreed.

Shuzo brings a hand to his chin with an impressive look. "Astonishing," he commented. "That is a good combo right there."

Zuzu lets the information sink into her head. Seeing how the girl is doing, Zuzu is more concerned than ever. She turns back to the arena. "Yuya…" she whispered, unsure of where the duel is taking.

Yasuko looks down at her hand, and it was clear that she needs to bring in the bigger guns. "Alright, Yuya, you wanted me to see what I can do, right?" she asked which caught the boy's attention. "Well, here's only a portion of it! I activate the Spell Card! Dragonic Tactics!" Yasuko plays her Spell Card; **Dragonic Tactics**. "This card lets me tribute two Dragon-type monsters on my field to Special Summon one Level 8 Dragon monster from my Deck."

"What?!" Yuya gasped in shock as well as everyone in the You-Show Duel School.

Yasuko raises her hand in the air. "I tribute my two Dragon Lord Tokens to Special Summon White Night Dragon!" The two dragon lord tokens crumble before evaporating into particles to Special Summon **White Night Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**. On Yasuko's side of the field, a frozen, ice dragon appears on the field, making a distorted roar in the arena.

Yuya is intimidated by the appears of another stronger monster. "Oh man," he uttered. "Not good."

"It's got 3000 ATK points!" Tate gasped. "It's even stronger than Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!"

"Oh no!" Allie and Frederick exclaimed together.

"Battle!" Yasuko declared, gesturing to her opponent's monsters. "White Night Dragon, take out Handsamuraiger! Dragon Knight of Creation, slash Ballad!" The frozen dragon and the creation knight join forces and they both move in to engage the two monsters.

Yuya reacts quickly and hurries out to find an Action Card. He runs as fast as he could, hoping to spot one before the girl can attack. He spots one on top of the floating hologram platform. He hops over one after another until he snags it.

"I'm activating the Action Spell, Illusion Dance!" Yuya declared as he activates the Action Spell Card, **Illusion Dance**. "This card forces all of our monsters to Defense Position until the end of the turn!"

In response, Yasuko makes a counter move. "White Night Dragon's monster effect activates!" she barked. "During either of our turns, when a Spell or Trap Card targets this card, its effects are negated and destroyed!" The frozen dragon blasts a powerful ice storm that freezes the Action Spell Card and destroys it.

His duel disk beeps to reject the activation of the Action Spell Card. "You're kidding me?!" Yuya gasped.

"Now, finish them!" Yasuko commanded.

At once, the frozen dragon blasts a blizzard from its jaws at the red samurai while the creation dragon knight slashes the female ballad. Both monsters explode which cause the entire arena to form a large crater. The shockwaves send Yuya flying back who screams after being blown away. He hits the ground after taking the damage.

 **(Yuya Sakaki: LP 2900** → **1700)**

"Yuya!" Zuzu cried, calling to her friend.

"Yuya!" The three kittle kids all chorused to the Entertainment Duelist.

"Now I activate Dragon Knight of Creation's effect," said Yasuko. "When it destroys a monster in battle, I can send a level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my deck to the graveyard." Yasuko chooses to send one monster card from her deck to the graveyard.

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn," she concluded. Yasuko Sets her last card from her hand face-down.

 **Turn 6: Yuya (1x card)**

The boy grunts in pain after taking a blow against Yasuko's attacks. He sits back up and glares at the girl with any of the hate he has remaining. He didn't think that his opponent would be harder to beat. No matter how many times he's played his cards, Yasuko always counters anything that he throws to her. Yasuko has proven herself to be the most challenging opponent that he's ever faced.

" _I can't believe she was even prepared to negate Action Cards, and she didn't even have to move. Is this what she's capable of?"_ He thought to himself.

"Get up," Yasuko suddenly called to him. He was surprised that she is calling to him. "I said get up," she repeated. "You think I care about winning? I care more about giving you a piece of my mind."

Glaring at Yasuko, Yuya stood up from the ground and said, "Don't you know that you've already taken everything from me?" he asked.

"No," was her answer which surprises Yuya. "I don't care about beating you because you're _way_ under of my league," Yasuko proclaimed.

Yuya seems to be aggravated as Yasuko claims that she could beat him. "You haven't know yet until you can!"

"I should say that your dueling sucks," said Yasuko. "But maybe, it is because you are an amateur just like I thought. Your dueling skills are just completely pitiful."

At the audience room, Zuzu isn't taking her comments well. A red aura surrounds her body with an angry scowl and a fan in her hand. "If Yasuko doesn't stop talking like that; I will shut her up," she growled.

"But Zuzu, this is how she's always been." Zuzu's anger subsided the moment someone spoke about the girl. She jerks her head and comes across not only Yoko Sakaki, but another woman beside her, Diana Luciana.

"Seems that Yasuko is making it hard to talk," said Yoko.

Zuzu got confused. "You're here?"

Diana's hands rests on her hips. "I apologize if Yasuko's being impolite to all of you, but she's just socially awkward," she sympathized, her eyes stare at the cynical girl. "She doesn't fit in with the others, but seeing her duel in the open like this is a real surprise. Chloe was very pleased to hear her daughter joining the duel school. I think she made the right decision to transfer her to this city."

Zuzu raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean, 'doesn't fit in?'" she inquired.

Diana had a small, sad smile to the girl. "You see," she began. "Yasuko is a very private person. She always keeps to herself mostly. She doesn't like to be in front of big crowds. She never had the same interests as everyone." Her eyes revert to the girl. "Her mother, Chloe Saratoga, and I were once high school friends back then, and she told me that she has a daughter coming over to Maiami City. I was confused at first because Chloe is not married until she told me her story.

"Yasuko Yukihana came from a small village near Wangkou and was abandoned when she was very young. She was about seven-years-old when Chloe met her during one of her photo expedition trips around the world. She grew very fond of her and decided to take her to back to Tokyo. That being said, she never understood anything. She never understood what the kids her age were interested in.

"And that's when she got involved in Duel Monsters. Chloe said she was amazed by how Yasuko was very good at it. She stumbles when she first started, but eventually, she manages to rise on top. Chloe once told me that dueling helps clear her mind, and she used to be in a Dueling Club back at Horyuji Academy," Diana explained.

Zuzu blinks in surprise, unaware that Yasuko was a part of a group that promotes dueling. "Dueling Club?"

Meanwhile, Yasuko and Yuya glare at each other, never leaving their eyes away from even the slightest. Yuya's fist comes forward as he said, "You think how I do is amateurish? I could tell you; my dad was even better."

"So it would seem," Yasuko replied. "I bet he sucks like any other duelists."

Infuriated, Yuya stepped forward and shouted, "What!? You're saying that my dad stinks at Dueltainment!?" He flinched in anger. "You don't know anything about my dad like anyone else!" he argued. "He was the greatest Dueltainer in the world! My dad never lost at Dueling!"

Yasuko narrows her eyes and continues to talk about his father. "Then didn't Yusho told you how he became a Dueltainer? How many times did he fail to try to be the best? Ten? Twenty? Maybe thirty? Not everyone is always the best. I can tell you, right now, people never enjoyed Action Duels in the beginning."

Yuya flinched in shock when Yasuko mentioned how much Dueltainemnt became. "Why did he introduced Action Duels in the first place? Does he want the people to enjoy them? Does he want to duel someone who can duel better than him? Do they enjoy Action Duels before? Every duelist wants to be as best as they could. Everyone probably wanted to be like Yusho because he can do a lot better in Action Duels than them."

Yuya's eyes widened slowly as Yasuko continues. "Nobody is always the best, to begin with. You have to master your basics first and practice them until you got the hang of it. I wasn't even good at anything. Even Dueling. I've had my fair share of losses, and I wasn't going to lose to the same person again."

Yasuko's speech is somehow impacting Yuya. He never thought he'd be hearing words coming from the cynical duelists as she continues. "Do you want to know what Declan said to me?" she questioned.

Yuya's ears perked up, and he listened carefully. "What did he tell you?" he asked.

Yasuko blinks once. "Declan told me that he sincerely respects your old man deeply," she reminisced.

Her words shock Yuya even more. He was bewildered that someone like Declan Akaba, the CEO of the Leo Corporation, would respect his father. He didn't believe that there was someone left in the city who has admirations for Yusho.

His hand unconsciously to wrap his pendant, thinking about what his father would say to him if he were here. "He…he did?" Yuya stuttered.

The audience was listening to Yasuko's speech. They were impressed with her words. None of them thought that Yasuko had the heart to say something passionate to Yuya. Diana and Yoko were smiling by Yasuko's understanding.

Yasuko can feel more relaxed after talking with Yuya. His anger is dwindling as she talks it out of him. Her eyes softened a bit but remains firm.

"Yes. He told me that Yusho is a true pioneer of Action Duels," she stated. "And now, you are the first person to built a door that leads to Pendulum Summon, but you whine and cry about someone doing Pendulum because you think it's your special talent. You don't see me complaining when someone else is doing a Synchro, Fusion, or Xyz Summon.

"Of course Pendulum Summon is going to be distributed. And yes, people are going to use Pendulum Summon. So stop your crying, man up, and keep going. If you want to become the master of Pendulum, then why not you try to use all three Extra Deck summoning techniques first and utilize them into Pendulum," Yasuko suggested. "You can make Pendulum Summon evolve even further, so maybe this would be the basic building blocks for you to use."

She then points at Yuya. "Let me just say this to you because I am sure hell not making any more speeches." Slowly, Yasuko takes a breath before announcing what she wants to say to Yuya. "As the pioneer who built the foundations of Pendulum Summon, I sincerely respect you; Yuya Sakaki."

Diana gestures her hand to Yasuko. "Most times, Yasuko doesn't get along with anybody, but she does have a heart," Diana explained. "She doesn't want anyone to come in between the job and herself. Stubbornness is one of the things she hates."

Zuzu starts to reflect on how much hate she harbors against Yasuko because of her bad-temper. All this time, she thought Yasuko was mean and gives anyone a cold demeanor, but hearing Diana explain about Yasuko's past life about being adopted, moving from a foreign country, and never fitting in with the rest of the girls her age seem depressing.

Zuzu feels sorry for her. She can only look at the girl with the same concern she had for Yuya. Deep down, behind all that temper and uptight facade, Yasuko is lonely. "Yasuko…" she whispered.

"I bet if she does have fun in dueling, I think one day, she'll be a pro," Yoko commented as she turns around to walk away

"Mrs. Sakaki, you're leaving?" Zuzu asked.

Yoko takes one glance over her shoulder. "It should be fine from this point on," she assured. "I could trust that girl to help Yuya come to terms with himself." Yoko gives one mischievous wink at her.

Yasuko stares at Yuya's stunned face. He was beyond surprise; he was disbelief. He didn't think that his father would fail in his Dualtainment, but if what Yasuko is saying about his father is correct at the beginning, then maybe others would've agreed with her.

Staring down in his hand, he has only a monster card that may turn the tide of the duel against her.

" _If Yasuko believes that Pendulum can evolve, then I better step it up to the next level,"_ he thought. His face turns to a new determination to finish the duel. "Then bring out your courage and step forward!" His outburst startled everyone in the school except for Yasuko. His eyes give a whole new joy. "It's show time! I draw!" Yuya draws a card.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Yuya announced. "Prepare to experience the thrills and chills of Yuya Sakaki-style Entertainment Dueling!" The spotlight from out of nowhere dims to shine only on Yuya. "To start this off, I will complete the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 8 Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn!" he declared. "I'm taking back control of this duel starting now!"

And with that Yuya slaps **Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn (Scale 8)** to the Pendulum Zone, creating the Pendulum rainbow word on it. On his pendulum zone comes a bright green unicorn with a pink mane and a vest that goes with a yellow polka-dot bow tie. Its eyes are red and green. The unicorn floats up beside the star wizard with its respective Pendulum Scale number

"With these two monsters, I can now Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 2 and 7 at the same times!" Yuya stated. " _Swing! Pendulum of the Soul! Carve the arc of the ether!_ I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _!_ _My monsters are ready to swing into action!"_ From the top of the portal comes three lights that reveal the monsters that he summoned. "Take an encore, Performapal Ballad! And I would like to introduce a new co-star into the field! He is a little shy to begin with, but he can get along! So, here comes Performapal Fire Mufflerlion! And finally, our main star of the event, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!"

Yuya Pendulum Sumomons **Performapal Ballad** , **Performapal Fire Muffflerlion (ATK 800/DEF 800)** in Defense Position, and **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000),** in Attack Position. On the field, the time wizard appears, a white lion with flaming mane, a vest and a hat does a backflip before showing itself; the female ballad swishes her fence sword out in front of her, and the red-scaled dragon with dichromatic red and green eyes give a loud uproar.

Diana was amazed at seeing Pendulum Summon for the first time. "Wow, so this is Pendulum Summon?" she wondered before smiling at the sight. "Amazing…"

"You seem to forget…my Dragon Knight of Creation's special effect!" Yasuko stated. "During your turn, this card becomes a level 8!"

 **(Dragon Knight of Creation: Level 4** → **8)**

Yasuko swings her duel disk arm to her face-up spell card. "And since I control a level 8 Dragon-type monster, monsters that were Special Summoned, except the graveyard, all had their effects negated until the end of the turn!"

The three kids got concerned about the duel. Even if Yuya was able to Pendulum Summon, the effects of Yasuko's spell card can negate any of his monsters' effects until the end of the turn.

"Oh no!" Allie whined. "Yuya can't do anything with his monsters' special effect!"

"And that would mean Odd-Eyes can't do anything because even if Dragon Knight of Creation is a level 8, it cannot deal double damage," Frederick said, concerned.

Yuya hops on Pendulum Dragon, and the dragon starts to leap over one platform. One platform after another, the Dragon stops on one platform until he spots an Action Card hanging from a triangle pole platform. He swipes it, and Pendulum Dragon lands on top of the Flatiron Building look-alike

Yasuko's gaze softens as she watched Yuya makes his next move. "Have no fear because I'm firing up Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon with this Action Spell Card; Illusion Fire!" Yuya plays the Action Spell Card; **Illusion Fire**. "The monsters that I didn't select are at the sidelines, but Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon gets to attack in their place!" The three weaker monsters converge to stand in front of the Pendulum Dragon as Yuya hops onboard his monster.

"Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon can attack three times?" Tate inquired.

"All right, this is perfect! Now, for the main event!" Yuya announced. "The moment that you've all been waiting for!"

Shuzo watches Yuya's performance as his face shows satisfaction. "That guy…" he said. "He's doing it!"

"And now, here is Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn's pendulum effect!" Yuya points his finger to the heterochromia unicorn. "Once per turn, if my "Odd-Eyes" monsters attacks during this turn, I can target one "Performapal" monster that I control and Odd-Eyes gains ATK points equal to that monster's _original_ ATK points!" Yuya waves his hand over to the white lion. "And the monster I choose is Performapal Fire Mufflelion!" The heterochromia unicorn shoots down a blue beam down to shine Pendulum Dragon and the white lion. "Since Fire Mufflelion has 800 ATK points, that means Odd-Eyes gets those ATK points!"

 **(Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 2500** → **3300)**

Yasuko narrows her eyes at Pendulum Dragon. Yuya's Pendulum Dragon runs off of the building and straight in the air. "Here we go!" Yuya beamed. "Let's battle! Odd-Eyes, attacks Dragon Knight of Creation!"

Pendulum Dragon leaps up and opens its jaws. "Go! _Spiral Burst Strike!_ " Pendulum Dragon unleashes a powerful red spiraling beam toward the frozen. The flame lion hops inside of the beam as it boosts the fire mane. The flamethrower beam destroys the creation knight, along with some of Yasuko's life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3400** → **1900)**

Yuya points at the frozen dragon that is in the middle of the street. "Odd-Eyes, let's melt that White Night Dragon with another round of your Spiral Burst Strike!" Pendulum Dragon gives another shot of its crimson red spiraling beam down to the frozen dragon. The female ballad crosses her fence swords together and swishes forward to let the beam create a giant red "X." The "X" beam destroys the frozen dragon.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1900** → **1600)**

The audiences are getting more excited with the score; now it is almost even between the two duelists.

"Alright!" The three kids cheered together.

"Do it, Yuya!" Zuzu praised.

"To see my students making up, and Yuya giving it all! It's making my blood boiling red hot!" Shuzo screamed.

"Alright, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon let's give these folks here the grand finale of the show!" For the final time, Odd-Eyes gets to fire one last shot of its spiraling red beam across the field. "Odd-Eyes, attack Yasuko directly!" Yuya pointed out. The Pendulum Dragon unleashed one firey blast. The time wizard extends his right gauntlet and jumps inside the beam. Its powers, mixed with the beam, creates a powerful laser that has clock mirages coming out.

Yasuko is waiting to take the red blast head-on. She continues to stare at the beam until—

 _KA-BOOOOOOM!_

Yuya and his monsters jump down from the building to take a good look at his opponent. He and the other monsters make a bow together after a stunning performance.

The audiences give a loud applause to the Entertainment Duelist.

"Yuya did it!" Allie cheered.

"That was awesome!" Tate smiled.

"Shivers!" Frederick quivered.

"Amazing," Diana applauded.

"You did it," Zuzu beamed. "Yuya!"

"Oh, my blood is boiling hot right now!" Shuzo boosted.

The smog slowly vanishes until it shows Yasuko standing with her arms shielding in front of her face. Somehow, the red blast was able to push her back across the end of the street from Yuya.

She lowers her arms down and stands back up. "Nice, you've managed to get back on your feet," said Yasuko. "But I'm afraid the show isn't over just yet." Yuya was confused for a moment until Yasuko still had life points remaining.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1600)**

Yuya gasped in shock when he saw his attacks hadn't touched her life points. The audience was shocked too. Her life points are still the same as it was before Pendulum Dragon makes the final assault.

"Huh?! What happened?!" Allie questioned.

"Eh!? How come she still has all her life points?!" Frederick added.

"What was that!?" Tate inquired. "She didn't even take any damage."

"But how?" Zuzu wondered. "All that damage she receives should've already beaten her."

Diana points her finger at something in the smoke. "Look," she said.

The smoke fades even faster until Yasuko's face-down was up, revealing to be a Trap Card; **Defense Draw**.

"A Trap Card?!" Gongenzaka gasped. "She played a Trap right after Yuya attacked!" he exclaimed.

Yuya was in disbelief. He thought he beat her; however, she played the trap card right before she can take the final blow. "But…but how?!" he asked.

"You really need to be more careful with your opponents, Yuya," Yasuko replied. "This trap card is called Defense Draw. I can only play this card during the damage calculation. This card reduces all battle damage to 0, and lets me draw a card," she explained.

Yasuko's finger is on top of her deck. She can feel her heartbeat bumping to her eardrums. " _Alright, this is it,"_ she thought. " _If I don't make a draw right here and now, I'm not gonna last against Odd-Eyes. Please, give me something good."_ Her eyes closed for a brief moment.

In the midst of her move, the crystal keychain pendant starts to glow brightly under her jean loop. It gives a small resonating flash that is urging to be drawn.

With one swipe, Yasuko swiftly draws a card with one light motion trail left behind. She opens up and looks at the card that she has drawn. To her surprise, the card she draws is a Tuner monster; **Nobledragon Magician** , but it has become a Pendulum monster now due to some strange unknown circumstances.

Yuya's expression simmers down from all the excitement that he did, but Yasuko changed all that as she said, "Don't be disappointed, Yuya. This is the closest match I've had in a long time."

The boy looks at her in surprise. "Eh?"

"Out of all the duels I've fought, none of them can even last longer than you," said Yasuko. "And you, on the other hand, are worthy of being my equal than Declan."

Despite the failures of his attacks, Yuya smiles with gratitude. He nodded. "Yeah, I admit it; you are the most awesome duelist that I've ever encounter."

In return, Yasuko nods back. "Same with you," she commented.

"I end my turn, and with that Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn's pendulum and Fire Mufflerlion's monster effect ends, returning Odd-Eyes to its original ATK points," Yuya concluded."

 **(Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 3300** → **2500)**

 **Turn 7: Yasuko (1x card)**

The duel has turned around for Yasuko again. It was in favor of Yuya before Yasuko saved herself at the last minute with the close defeat. The audience was awed of how the two duelists continue to counter their destruction.

"This is probably even more intense than her duel with Declan," said Tate. "I know Yuya is a great duelist…"

"But its like Yasuko's always three moves ahead," Allie stated.

"It all comes down to her very last draw," Shuzo said, holding a fist in front of him. "This match is close. And where will the swing of the Pendulum stop at? Yasuko Yukihana or Yuya Sakaki?"

"Ahh!" Frederick whined. "Seeing them duel like this is making my head spin!"

"Guess it's time to wrap it up," Yasuko said as her finger laces on the top of her deck. "My turn! I draw!" Like a pendulum swinging to the right, Yasuko draws a card from her deck so fast that she left an aqua blue light trail behind. She looks at her card. She uses the Spell Card that she has drawn, **Graceful Charity**.

"I activate the Spell card, Graceful Charity!" Yasuko declared. "This card lets me draw three cards from my deck and discards two cards!" Yasuko draws three cards. So far, she has drawn **Paladin of Felgrand** , **Heliosphere Dragon** , and a Spell Card; **Miracle Synchro Fusion**.

From the moment she saw the spell card, a combo was already working in her mind that will determine the outcome of the duel. It is like she is racing through space and time where the cards laying out are setup. She decides to take the spell card and discards the rest to the graveyard.

"Since I still I have my Dragonpulse and Dragonpit Magicians, I can Pendulum Summon monsters between levels 2 and 7 all at the same time! I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _!_ Blaze through my monster!" Yasuko raised her hand in the air as the portal appears above her. A single pillar of light shines down as Yasuko Pendulum Summons **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon**. "Come back to me, Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" The monster that Yasuko summons is Phantom Dragon once more.

Suddenly, the red and green eyes of the Phantom Dragon seems to glow brightly. It appears the dragon has sensed the presence of its twin. Phantom Dragon turns its head slightly over to stare at Pendulum Dragon. It roars so loud that it vibrates the windows from the audience room. Pendulum Dragon howls in retaliation. The two dragons roaring in the arena seem to cause the windows to vibrate. Some of the lights flicker in the audience room. The whole arena was getting a bit shaky from the appearance of the two dragons.

The audiences are looking confused about why the dragons are suddenly reacting. They know that they're holograms with solid masses, but they're acting like real dragons who are prepared to defend their territory.

"What are they doing?" Allie inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't even know," Tate responded.

"Why are those dragons acting up?" Frederick asked.

The crystal pendant from Yasuko's keychain and Yuya's pendulum necklace starts to glow in response to the appearance of the two mighty dragons. From the sidelines, it wasn't just the crystal pendants that were glowing; Zuzu's bracelet is starting to illuminate because of the reaction to the pendants.

"Huh?" Zuzu was confused at first until she looks down at the bracelet. She realizes that it was glowing again. Not as bright as the last time, but enough to catch her attention. "W-what was happening?" she inquired

"I activate Dragonpit Magician's pendulum effect!" Yasuko continued. "Dragonpit Magician can destroy one Spell or Trap Card on the field by discarding one Pendulum monster! I discard my Tuner monster, Nobledragon Magician—" Yasuko discards her **Nobledragon Magician** , "—to destroy Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords!" The dragonpit sorcerer swings his staff down and shoots a bolt of lightning to destroy the face-up Spell card on the field.

Yuya and the other students are bewildered how Yasuko is destroying her spell card. "What?! But that's your own card!" he pointed out.

"I know, and that's why I'm getting rid of it so that I can activate Nobledragon Magician's monster effect!" Yasuko explained. "When Nobledragon Magician is my hand or graveyard, I can target one level 7 or higher "Odd-Eyes" monster on my field and reducing its level by 3!" A blue force surrounds Phantom Dragon to reduce its level.

 **(Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon: Level 7** → **4)**

"With it, I can Special Summon the Level 3 Tuner monster, Nobledragon Magician in my graveyard!" Yasuko added as she Special Summons **Nobledragon Magician (ATK 700/DEF 1400)**. From the small hole, a nobledragon priestess appears on the field wielding a tuning fork staff that is too big for her to hold with a violet orb between the forks.

Yuya's jaws seem broken after seeing the tuner monster appear before him. "No way," he gasped as so did everyone else in the audience room.

"She's got a Tuner monster now!" Allie inhaled.

Tate then suddenly grasps on what Yasuko is planning. "Oh my god!" Tate realized. "Is she's going from a Pendulum to a Synchro Summon!"

"EH?!" Shuzo and Zuzu gasped too.

"This is the most awesome thing I have seen!" Frederick squealed. "Just seeing Yasuko doing a Pendulum to a Synchro is making my goosebumps get the shivers!"

Diana's mouth gapes at the sight of the girl. "I can't believe this is what she's capable of,"

The cynical girl raises her hand in front of her monsters. "Now, I tune my level 3 Nobledragon Magician with my level 4 Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" As Yasuko declared, the nobledragon priestess raises her tuning fork staff in the air and the orb illuminated before she disappears into three green rings. The rings scan Phantom Dragon until it is nothing with only the four glowing white orbs.

 **(3 + 4 = 7)**

" _Please, let this work!"_ She mentally prays for the card that she needs. Yasuko isn't sure which cards are in her Extra Deck, but she is going to make sure she wins. " _Clustering worlds now align yourselves and become a dragon that will go beyond the new horizon and open the path that shines the light! I_ _**Synchro Summon**_!" Yasuko chanted as the rings shoot a bright beam. " _Surface! Shooting Riser Dragon!"_ Yasuko chanted before she Synchro Summons **Shooting Riser Dragon (ATK 2100/DEF 1700)**.

The audience is so anxious if Yasuko has the card that she needs that their faces are practically close to windows.

To their amazement, a card pops out of the disk.

Yasuko takes it to summon a second Synchro monster. From the white light comes a dragon with white armor scales and forest green underbelly skin with its wings shaping as a pair of flight pack. The dragon makes a hollow roar in the air as it takes flight in the night sky before descending behind Yasuko.

Allie is very enchanted of how the star rise dragon is making silver sparkles all over the field after being summoned. "Wow, look at it," she said. "It looks so pretty."

"Wow," Tate cheered. "She has another Synchro monster."

"But still, her dragon isn't strong enough to take down Odd-Eyes," Frederick pointed out.

"I'm not done yet!" Yasuko suddenly declared which caught the three kids by surprise.

Taking out her last card in her hand, the girl plays her final Spell Card; **Miracle Synchro Fusion**. "I activate the Spell Card! Miracle Synchro Fusion!" she announced. "This card lets me banish Fusion Materials from my field or graveyard to Fusion Summon one monster from my Extra Deck that contains a Synchro Monster!"

Her words impact all of the people in the school. The audience is so shocked that it looks like their widened eyes and the gaping jaws hanging from their mouths would probably stay there forever.

"NO WAY!" Everyone exclaimed.

"I banish my Shooting Riser Dragon on the field and my Paladin of Felgrand from my graveyard to fuse them!" Yasuko shouted.

Behind the girl is the swirling vortex of white and blue instead of red and blue. Her riser star dragon and the paladin knight appears before they swallowed by the whirlpool. Yasuko raises both arms in the air to show everyone the power that she alone may posses.

" _Force of the dragon, soul of the warrior! Merge together! United and become the entity of all dragons and man! Take up arms and be ready to fight as one! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _!"_ Yasuko chanted. " _Rise! Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste!"_ Yasuko Fusion Summons **Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste (ATK 3200/DEF 2000)**.

From the white and blue swirling vortex, a monster appears before everyone. The dragon Fusion monster is more humanoid than other dragon species, wearing blue armor all over the body with few areas of its magenta scales exposed, and its silver head with red eyes. It wields a giant lance as its primary weapon. It spins the weapon over its head before standing ready for battle.

Yuya is speechless. He has no words to say other than a croak. He is overwhelmed by Yasuko. She went from Pendulum to Synchro and then Fusion Summon. His body stood frozen from the head to the feet in his shoes. The sight of a Fusion monster using a Synchro monster as a Fusion material paralyzes him.

The others are also having similar reactions to the Fusion Summon. Zuzu holds a hand to her heart. Allie's jaw is broken. Tate and Frederick had their head pressed to the glass window. Diana is stiff. Shuzo had both his hands in his mouth like he's so excited that he wants to extend his lower jaw down further. Gongenzaka is so close to the window that his big red nose is practically touching the glass.

The winds, forged by the arena, blows around Yasuko flapping her low pigtails behind her head. She removes some bangs out of her forehead and looks at Yuya with a stern face. "Yuya Sakaki," she stated. "This…is the end of our little fun match." She raise her hand to her draco-exquiste.

Yuya looks troubled after seeing the draco-equiste and snaps himself to start fleeing for any Action Cards that are left. He turns up and down, left and right for any sign until he spots one at barely hanging on at the ring. He jumps, and Yuya snags the Action Card from the ring.

"Battle!" Yasuko declared. "Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste! Attack Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" The draco-equiste obeys and readies its lance. With such speed, the monster makes a zip past the girl to pierce Pendulum Dragon.

"I activate the Action Spell; Evasion!" Yuya inserts the Action Spell Card; **Evasion**. "This card negates one of your monster's attack!" Pendulum Dragon jumps upwards, causing the draco-equiste to miss and crash in one of the building.

Yuya stops running and turns around to face Yasuko. His smile shows how much confidence is restored. "Sorry, Yasuko, but it looks like you'll have to wait until your next turn!" he smiled.

"Sorry? When I say that this show is over, I mean it." Her outburst suddenly caught Yuya off guard as Yasuko starts running again. One platform after another, the girl runs up until there is a ring pole floating close by. From there, she grabs hold onto the ring and swings herself over to an Action Card hanging on the floating triangle pole.

Yasuko snatches it before falling. Quickly, she brought both legs together and did a parkour roll. "I play the Action Spell, Star Boost!" She activates her Action Spell Card; **Star Boost**. "This card gives my Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste another attack, but this time, it gains 100 ATK points for every monster levels that are on the field!"

"For every level on the field?" Allie inquired. "How much is that?"

Tate starts to count the total of the cards that have levels. "Let's see…Odd-Eyes is a level 7, so that's 700. Timegazer Magician, Performapal Fire Mufflelion, and Ballad are all level 3, so 3 times 3 equals 9 which is 900. Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste is a level 10, so that's 1000," he calculated. "Add all those up, and you get…" He finishes counting, and the result makes him gasp with astonishment. "That's 2600!"

"EH?!" Allie and Frederick shrieked in fright.

"No way!" Zuzu gasped in surprise.

"With that kind of power…" said Shuzo.

"Yasuko wins," Diana finished.

Five stars appear above the draco-equiste as it raises its lance high to let the energy flow surround the weapon.

 **(Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste: ATK 3200** → **5800)**

"5800 ATK points?!" Yuya exclaimed.

The Draco-equiste was prepared to take a second chance at Pendulum Dragon. "Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste, take out Odd-Eyes and end this duel!" The draco-equiste flies straight forward, beaming right for Pendulum Dragon with its lance.

As the draco-equiste monster comes racing down the street, a sudden surge of pain on her left leg made Yasuko cringe just before the Pendulum Dragon unleashes a huge spiraling, red beam at the front to retaliate. The blast was being cut through by the lance, and with one stab, the lance pieced right through Pendulum Dragon dead center. The explosion creates a powerful boom that echoes in the field.

Yuya cannot run away now. He was cornered. All he could see was a very bright light approaching fast to him as his vision goes blind.

 **(Yuya: LP 1700** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The Action field disintegrates into thin air. The area reverts to the original empty area with the machine underneath the two duelists. Outside, the sky was bright orange which shows that it is getting late.

The audience couldn't make out what just happened. Yasuko was handicapped, but she managed to pull through and defeated one of their most aspiring duelist in the school.

Yuya was lying on the floor in shock. He could not believe that Yasuko beat him. He was in entirely stunned about the results of their match. Closing his eyes, he lets his emotions run through and bursts out laughing. His laughter was echoing in the whole arena area.

"That was amazing!" Yuya cheered. "Yasuko, that was amazing!" He paused; however when he saw Yasuko.

The girl was laying on the floor with her arms spread and her eyes close. She looks unconscious. "Yasuko!" Yuya yelled. He runs to her and helps her up in his arms. "Are you okay? Pull yourself together! Say something!" he pleaded.

Yasuko moans as her face grimaced before opening her eyes. "Yuya?" she said wearily. "My left leg couldn't take it. I went beyond the limits of the tape, and I give in before I could see you beaten." Her eyes look over to her left leg. "I should be at home, taking a cold shower, and call it for the day." She then looks back up at Yuya. "But I was wrong. I was wrong about myself. And I was wrong about you too… It seems that you are an Entertainment Duelist after all. I apologize for all the rude things I said about you. It was because you need to realize that you are not alone in Pendulum and that you were being an asshole," she exhaled a bit from exhaustion. "If only you ever forgive me, Yuya…"

The boy shakes his head dramatically. "What are you talking about? Of course, I forgive you!" Yuya cried with dramatic expression. "And… I should be the one to say sorry too. I'm sorry for the way I acted, but I was just furious, and sad…and I…"

Yuya halted when Yasuko held a hand to caress his cheek. "It's just the natural reaction of feeling defeated," she said. "Whenever someone does something you're good at, you get envious about them, but don't be." Yuya holds on to Yasuko's hand and listens to her faking weak voice. "This is how it is… You must keep living. I wish I could tell you more, but I'm just too tired to do this talk…" Yasuko closes her eyes and turns her head to nap on Yuya's lap.

Like a sad ending of a drama movie, Yuya looks at the sky as he wails her name with fake sadness. "YASUKO!"

Yasuko sleeps like she was dead—

 _WHACK!_

"OW! WHAT THE FRIG!? SON OF A–ARGH! FRIGGIN A–OH! DAMN IT!" Yasuko suddenly squawked when a hard slap on the face by Zuzu's paper fan was enough to wake her up with a painful sensation. "ARGH!" Yasuko shot up, lifting her head from Yuya's arms. "WHAT THE HELL!?" she bellowed. She gives sharp dagger looks to a blushing Zuzu who was glaring at both her and Yuya with the paper fan in her hands.

"OKAY! THAT IS ENOUGH WITH THE CARNEY MELODRAMA!" Zuzu snapped.

Everyone else gathered around to see what has happened: Diana had one eyebrow raised; Shuzo and Gongenzaka were very emotional by their dramatic moment with fresh tears streaming from their eyes, and the kids were bewildered to see what has been occurring between Yuya and Yasuko.

"Zuzu, you butthead! I was exhausted! I needed a nap!" Yasuko snapped back and rubbed her face to stop the pain. "You didn't have to hit me like that! Ow! Damn!"

Diana, on the other hand, holds a hand on her mouth and turned her head. "Yasuko, I didn't think you do it too well," she sympathized. "I think you should consider being an actress someday."

"Like hell, I'm not!" Yasuko shouted at her caretaker.

"How beautiful!" Gongenzaka cried as he wiped his tears with his uniform sleeve.

"That was indeed beautiful! This is Youth!" Shuzo cried as well, filled with joy and touched at the same time as he wipes his tears away with his jacket sleeve.

Yuya nervously laughed. Everyone else laughed at the two duelists starting to bond. "Seriously though…thank you, Yasuko."

The cynical duelist turns around and faces the Entertainment boy. "Huh?" she inquired.

"If I'm going to win the next time, I'll try even harder and face them head on," said Yuya, full of determination. "I'll become better and stronger so that I can become a duelist that can make everyone smile!"

The corner of Yasuko's mouth twitched when Yuay proclaims to make smiles for everyone. She heard this once from Zuzu before she gives a loud "humph." She stands back up and dusts herself. "Good like with that, Sakaki," she said.

Yuya stands up. "Then just you wait! If you can beat Declan Akaba, then you've got to teach me something."

His response surprises the girl. Yasuko blinks and glances at him. "What? Teach you?" she repeated. "Why would you want me to teach you? You already know how they work."

"Not quite," said Yuya. "I know that I am not the brightest learner, but if you can at least give me some tips about how to do any of them, then maybe I'll be the one to do the same thing that you did with your Pendulum."

"If you get the basics down, then you can do it," Yasuko replied. "I'm only here to drop off my application and be done with it."

The three kids gather around the girl with an admiring look. They were so hyped after seeing the duel.

"That was so cool!" Tate cheered. "You were awesome in there, Yasuko!"

Allie hugs Yasuko around the waist. "You were amazing!" she applauded.

"To see you Pendulum, Xyz, Synchro, and Fusion Summon is so breathing to watch! It's making my goosebumps get the shivers!" Frederick quivered.

Tate snaps his finger. "Oh, that's it! I think…it should have a name for them," he suggested.

"How about…Pendulum-Xyz!" Allie implied.

Frederick nodded. "And the other two can be…'Pendulum-Fusion' and 'Pendulum-Synchro.' Those would be perfect names!"

Yasuko pats Allie on her head. "I'm…glad that you appreciate it," she responded. "But really, I don't think it deserves a name like those." She turns to Diana. "Hey, can we go? I am in the mood for some cold shower."

The caretaker nodded. "Sure," said Diana. Yasuko starts to walk out of the stadium, and Diana follows her.

The You-Show students watch her move away from them. They were genuinely grateful that Yasuko is going to attend their school with remarkable skills. Even Gongenzaka was impressed. They were proud to have someone who can do Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summon. Adding her to the team would boost their odds against anyone who gets in their way.

Yuya was honored to duel someone like Yasuko. She is extraordinary. He never duels anyone who can master all four of the Extra Deck summons. Before she gets closer to the door, Yuya called her again. "Yasuko."

She stops and turns around. "What?"

Yuya kept his smile on his face. "Let's duel again sometime," he confessed.

Yasuko's deadpan expression didn't budge the corner of her mouth, but to show her anticipation, she shrugs. "If you're ever ready, all you have to do is call," she responded one last time before she heads out of the door.

* * *

Driving back to the house is going to take a while for both Diana and Yasuko. The traffic at the sunset hour is long and crowded with cars rolling in from every intersection. Yasuko kept her eyes on the moving buildings in her window screen while Diana drives. Neither of them said anything for the ride as they come across the stoplight. While waiting, Diana takes the time to glance at Yasuko.

"Hey, Yasuko," said Diana. "What do you think of the You-Show?" she asked what her experience like with the school founded by Yusho was.

"I think that they're an odd bunch who can do something," Yasuko answered.

Diana's eyes roved to the cynical duelist. She wonders if Yasuko is willing to join the school for the entertainment. "You put up quite the performance there, Yasuko," she said. "Have you consider being in games."

Yasuko gives a snort. "Like fat chance. Yuya Sakaki had no right to insult me, so I choose to duel him to straighten his ass." Her eyes narrowed, scrutinizing her eyebrows.

"So then, why did you sign up in the first place?" Diana questioned. "It's a school designed to give all the audience a show."

After dueling with Yuya, she starts to have a viewpoint of what the You-Show is all about. Seeing Yuya did his Entertainment Duel is a trait that belongs to a collective of others. "It's freedom; they represent freedom," Yasuko answered. "And I want freedom for myself, not by their stupid dress-up rules."

"I see…" Diana confined. She focuses back on the road but didn't stop to talk to her. "You know, you should be proud you duel someone like Yuya Sakaki; he's a talented duelist, and the way you show more emotion in that duel, it's like you want to duel him."

Yasuko caught on from Diana's statement. Her mouth slightly open in disgust before closing and frowns. "What? Why would I want to duel him? He's a annoying pain in the ass," she stated. "I only dueled him because he can't grow up."

Diana sighed heavily. "Sometimes, I just wish that you can duel with the smile I saw on Yuya's face."

Yasuko didn't like how the talk got to the point regarding smiles. "I wish…" she murmured. Yasuko spots two kids with smiles on their faces.

* * *

 **I still enjoy writing this part. Not a lot of cards and turns still, but a whole lot of duels like this will be coming soon. I'll be very busy for this duration of the story. Hoped you've enjoyed reading this far though. There's plenty more of where that came from. And I'll be extra careful with the duels as they are in need to be as accurate as possible. Don't forget to subscribe to what you thought of this story and stay tune for the next chapter.**


	16. Chapter 16: A Conspiracy

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 16: A Conspiracy_

* * *

As advised, Yasuko is asked to stay away from her parkour or physical training for a few days to let the bruise go away. She hates it, but it wasn't too bad. At least the doctor made an excuse note to bar her from taking any school activities. Yasuko was glad that she doesn't need to do it. She would rather nap all day. The moment the bell rings, school is finally over. Students exit out of their classrooms and head back home for the day.

As the girl walks down the street, she hears shouting coming from across the road. "Yasuko! Yasuko!" The cynical girl turns her head to the other side of the road and Yuya Sakaki. "Yasuko!" Yuya shouted, running across the street. "Yasuko! Wait up!" Yuya stops in front of her to start talking. "Hey, how's your leg?"

"Getting out of shape no thanks to our duel," Yasuko responded. "What do you want, Yuya?"

Yuya had a mischievous grin on his face, giving Yasuko the urge to wipe it off with a punch to his face. "Yasuko, by all means, would you be willing to duel me again?" he requested.

Yasuko gives her response as one blunt word. "No."

Yuya fell over in shock before getting back up with his mouth looking broken when her response declines his request to duel her. "Wait, what!? But why?!" he demanded.

"Doctor's orders," Yasuko divulged. "I am forbidden from any activities that involve moving, and that includes dueling."

Her response got Yuya even more desperate to her. "But Yasuko, it doesn't have to do with Action Duels! It can be just Master Duels! I just need one more duel! Please, Yasuko, just one more!" he pleaded. "It'll be quick! All you have to do is lose this time, and then you won't have to worry about anything else! Please, Yasuko! Please! Please! Please!"

His pleading and comedian tears falling gives an irritated eye twitches from the girl. She is sure that the students would be looking at them weirdly. "Why would I want to duel you again?" Yasuko asked. "I have other things in mind."

"Because since you and I can do Pend—" Instantly, Yuya's mouth was grabbed harshly by Yasuko's right hand at the moment the boy was about to proclaim her secret.

Yasuko brings his face up and glares at the boy. "I trust that you can keep your mouth shut about this whole Pendulum business between the two of us. If you ever blabber your mouth that I have Pendulum cards, I'll kick your nuts so hard that you'll be in bed for a week, is that clear?" she threatened, whispering to make him listen.

Yuya knows best not to anger the girl after her voice making a hiss like a poisonous snake and nodded without saying anything. Yasuko lets go of his face. Yuya adjusted his mouth before speaking normally. "Yasuko, since you know what you can do," he translates to make sure Yasuko understands. "All I'm asking is for you to duel me one more time." He had both palms together in front of him. "Please, Yasuko!" he begged. "I beg of you! I just need you to duel me one more time so that I can have three more people to qualify for the Arc League Championship!"

A question mark pops up in her mind. Yasuko arches her head to the right, full of confusion about what kind of championship that Yuya is mentioning. "What's an Arc League Championship?" she asked.

Her question shocks Yuya. His mouth lets in a big air choking gasp. His eyes are as big as teacups. "What!" His yell was so loud that birds near the trees scatter away in fright. "You don't know what the Arc League Championship is?!"

Even the three little You-Show kids and Zuzu heard him from across the street. They were coming by shortly as soon as Yuya started to beg loudly. "What's going on, Yuya?" Zuzu asked. "Last minute, you were running over to see if Yasuko is willing to duel you, but then you shouted."

"Yeah, what's going on?" Allie asked.

Yasuko turned to everyone in front of her and informed, "Yuya asked me to duel him, but I refuse." Looking down at the three kids in front of her, she has to know what is going on. "Any of you Y'all know what is the Arc League Championship?" she demanded.

Zuzu leans forward. "You mean you don't know what the Arc League Championship is?" she inquired, surprised to find out that Yasuko doesn't even know how big it is.

In response, Yasuko shakes her head. "No, I don't."

Tate starts to explain to Yasuko about the event. "It's a special tournament event sponsored by the Leo Corporation," he emphasized. "It's the number one hottest event that comes once a year to select which duelists get to be the pro."

Fredrick held his fists in excitement. "It's the tournament of skill," he beamed. "This year, it's going to be big."

"You should enter it too, Yasuko," Allie insisted. "You're good enough to be in it."

However, the cynical girl turned her head the other way and said, "No." Her response disappoints the three kids. They believe that Yasuko is going to be joining, but she is not.

"What? But why not?" Tate asked.

"I don't like the attention," said Yasuko.

"But you must," Fredrick pleaded. "You duel so awesomely back at the You-Show. Why do you not want to enter?"

"I told you, kid; I don't like the attention," Yasuko repeated earlier.

Zuzu's mouth curves upside down. "But you'll be the only duelist in You-Show to never come," she pointed out.

The You-Show duelists each share a similar expression of how Yasuko is refusing to join them on the Arc League Championship. It is one of the most significant events that occur in Maiami City, and no one could be less interested in going to the tournament as big as the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games.

"I don't mind," said Yasuko. "Why not you Y'all let Yuya duel you instead?" She would assume that the three kids and Zulu are probably going to be in the Arc League Championship.

Tate raised his shoulders, holding out his hands. "Sorry, but we've already qualified for the Arc League Championship," he said, disappointed.

"And Yuya only needs four more official matches to get in," Allie added.

"Why is that?" Yasuko asked.

"To enter the Arc League Championship, you'll have to get either six consecutive wins or by having 50 matches with a win rate of over 60%," Zuzu explained. "And I've already qualified, so I can't duel Yuya."

Yasuko turns to the boy. "What about Big-Bushy Brows Gong?" she suggested. "He may volunteer."

Yuya looks at the ground. "I know, but it's just…Gongenzaka's done enough for me," he declined. "It's all thanks to him that I was able to try and become a pro."

Yasuko must've assumed that he and Gongenzaka are also childhood friends like Zuzu. "But that is why I can't rely on him anymore," Yuya continued. "I need to become stronger on my own," he said, looking up. "There's no time like right now!" He clenched his right fist, feeling determined to be strong.

"How noble of you," said Yasuko, complimenting Yuya's determination.

But for Zuzu, she frowned at her childhood friend's words as she remembered what she needed to do. "There's no time for right now?" said Zuzu before she smiled. She runs off, leaving the others behind. "You're right!" Zuzu said as she kept running. "I've got to go."

The startled kids, Yuya, and Yasuko watched her run off to somewhere that they don't know.

"Hey, where are you off to all of a sudden?" Yuya asked.

"It's nothing!" Zuzu called. "Just a few things to do, errands to pay, and bills to run!"

Yasuko spots a lie the moment Zuzu called to them, Yuya bewildered at her answer.

"Bills to what...?" Yuya repeated.

"A lie," Yasuko claimed.

"What about class?" Allie called.

"What about the Duel School?" Tate called in surprise.

"Tell my dad I won't be going today!" Zuzu said as she ran out of sight on the road.

The students are left in surprise that Zuzu just suddenly runs off without any explanation. Zuzu was in a good mood before she must go somewhere that is possible private.

"Anybody know what that was about?" Yuya asked the students.

"Beats me," Yasuko shrugged. "I'd say she's just envious." She starts walking down the street. "I gotta go, see ya folks some other time," she called without bothering to look back at Yuya and the kids.

"But aren't you coming with us to You-Show?" Tate asked.

"Doctor's orders," Yasuko called and casually walks out of view at the end of the road.

It leaves even more confusion for Yuya. "Seriously? First Zuzu, and now Yasuko?" he inquired. "What's their big deal?"

The kids had other things going in their head. Allie looks up to Yuya. "It's probably because you _give_ Gongenzaka all the credit," Allie accused with a frown.

Tate had to agree with her and folded his arms. "That's true. You said that you and he did put up a fight yesterday," Tate scowled. "Yasuko put in much effort too, and you didn't even praise her for saving the school, and she winds up getting injured because of it."

Even Frederick agrees with his friends, folding his arms too. "You just don't get it, do you?" said Frederick. "Those were not the very nice things to say…"

Yuya starts sputtering as he tried to correct the three kids for his gratitude to Zuzu and Yasuko. "Wha!? But that's not what I meant! I'm thankful for her! Zuzu's been great! Just like how I am for Yasuko–no, even more!" Yuya panicked. "I am grateful for Yasuko! She risked herself to save the school! I was there when it happened! She was awesome!"

"You're too late," Allie said bluntly. "You blow it." Yuya wails in despair, holding his head while the little kids chuckled at his misdeeds

* * *

Yasuko, on the other hand, was having some mocha frappuccino at the café shop. Sitting at the table for herself, Yasuko was doing homework. It wouldn't hurt to get a break from dueling. Some of the problems were hard to let her answer. Even so, her time is usually drawing randomly to occupy herself. She was drawing a picture of a dramatic battle between the two dragons, one that is red and one that is blue — a fight between two opposite sides to see who will be victorious.

Yasuko sips in some more of her drink as three LDS students came by to order something too. "Hey, didn't hear about Marco?" one of the LDS students asked. "They said that he went missing and he was never seen." Like rabbit ears twitching, her hearing does not deceive what the students from the LDS are talking about.

"Yeah, that's what I've heard," said the other. "Michiko told me that Marco was in the ally coming back from a graveyard shift." They take a seat behind Yasuko. She pretends that she isn't listening and focuses her eyes on her homework while eavesdropping the LDS students.

"Maybe he was abducted by aliens," one of the students accused.

"Ridiculous!" exclaimed the first one. "It can't be aliens. The reports said that someone was using Xyz summon."

Yasuko's eyes move on instinct to the three people behind her without turning her head by the slightest. Her mind is noting the information that they were talking about. When Henrietta accused Yuya of attacking LDS students, she said that Yuya has used Xyz summon, but then, the attacker had assaulted someone else from the Leo Institute, and it was an Xyz summoner.

"An Xyz summoner? What kind of person would attack someone like Marco?" the female one asked.

"I don't know," said the first LDS student. "I think maybe someone has hated the Leo Institute for winning every championship that we've won."

"But that would be cheating!" said the female one.

"Who knows, all we know is after Marco was attacked, they've tightened up security around the school and the Leo Corporation HQ," one of the LDS students explained. "They're looking for the identity of the attacker, and that is something fishy."

The female nodded. "Yeah, and there's even the police involved. They've locked down the Kanime construction site. I wonder who would be that crazy enough to go over there." On the notebook, the location was written by Yasuko as she was eavesdropping the conversation that was going on and closed it.

* * *

Her walk to downtown was very bizarre. By the time she got, what the LDS students had said about the institute and the corporation is right. Yasuko notices how many security guards are stationed at the entrance of both the Leo Institute and the Leo Corporation headquarters. Not to mention the security cameras from the building recording every move anyone makes. Staffs are forced to give biometric handprints to show that they work for the company. The same goes for any Leo Institute students. They had their bags, and duel disk checked and brought out their identification cards to show they belong with the Leo Institute.

"Holy crap, those LDS students aren't joking when security is very tight," Yasuko breathed. "I think Declan's gone overboard with this." She looks up at the Leo Corporation headquarters, probably thinking of what kind of business that the CEO is doing.

It is more mysterious than Yasuko expected. The attacker who assaulted Sylvio is described to look like Yuya, but he was at the You-Show when the attack occurred. She ruled out that Yuya was the accuser, a point for her.

"The LDS said that the culprit attacked the professor at the Kanime district." The cynical girl brings up the map from her duel disk. Measuring the distance between the You-Show and the place of the district, it's not possible for the Xyz culprit to be at the location miles away.

"So, that means it's an imposter or a second duelist," Yasuko hypothesized. "Maybe there should be more when I get over there." Yasuko puts her duel disk back into her holster and picks up her bag to start walking.

Yasuko goes to the location on the map. As she walks past a small corridor, a male stranger was hiding from the sidewalk. His hair is close to a palette swap with black in the back and light purple in the front. It sweeps upward and to the right side of the head. His face was partially covered because of the mask in his mouth. He had no goggles which reveal his dark gray eyes.

Yasuko suddenly gasped sharply, halting her footsteps. Her back unexpectedly gives a sharp chill. What was it that she felt? The hairs in the back of her neck stood up. Her skin starts to build up sweat preparing to leak out.

Slowly turning her head to the corridor, she peeks over and found nothing but an empty alleyway where people on the other side of the street are walking by. "I could've sworn I saw something?" Yasuko wondered. She didn't know why her back got chilly and shakes her head. "Nah, I must be getting Frederick's shivers," she rebuked as she proceeds to walk down the sidewalk.

Unknown to her, the stranger who was in the alleyway reappears, and he was looking at the back of Yasuko walking further away from him. He was close to being discovered. He has wondered how the girl noticed him where he was in the alleyway with the rest of the people didn't know. He could go after her to know, but that is not the case. He turns around and spots Zuzu Hiiragi dragging off with Sora Perse to somewhere, and again, like a ghost, he disappears.

* * *

Yasuko takes her time to get to the Kanime construction district. The only giveaway for the location of the attack was yellow police tape at the entrance saying, "Keep Out" wrapped around the red poles. There was no one in the entrance nor the front. She stands at the front of the entrance, clutching her bag. "Well, this must be the place," said Yasuko. "There's no doubt that a crime scene has yellow 'keep out' tape around it."

She thoroughly looks around the area, but no mess happened outside of the construction site. While she faces the front, Yasuko heard three people entering the same alleyway as she is in. Glancing her head, she noticed that it was Julia Kotsu, Hokuto O'rion, and Yabia Blade. They were walking by when Julia paused and saw her.

Hokuto looks at her direction. "Hey, look, it's her, Yasuko Yukihana," he said. "The Synchro-Pendulum Duelist."

Yasuko didn't like how her dueling created a title for herself. She could see in Julia's eyes that she does not want her presence. "What are you doing here?" Julia demanded, glaring with eyes full of venom.

"I was just passing by," Yasuko answered back in the same rude tone. "They've blocked this area here, so all of that leads to a dead end."

Julia's eyes narrow at her. "I mean, what are you really doing here?" she asked.

"None of your business, Princess Jewels," Yasuko replied with an insult.

"What was that?!" Julia retorted, hand moving close to her duel disk in her holster.

Yasuko was about to do the same when Hokuto raise a hand to stop Julia. "Julia, forget it. She has her reasons, and we have ours, we're not here to duel," he advised. "Remember, we're here to look for Marco."

Julia was itching to take her duel disk out and duel the third Pendulum user. She knows Yasuko is hiding something else, but Hokuto is correct, there are more personal things better than just starting a duel.

"Why did you even come here?" Julia demanded. "Obviously, someone from You-Show wouldn't care about the Leo Institute's business."

Yasuko's eyes closed and turned her head. "I don't do this for fame," she retorted. "And I don't care about You-Show. I want to find a second curriculum and get it over with." Yasuko's eyes opened and glances at the three Extra Deck users. "What about you? What brings you to this place? Did you hear something from the police report?"

The three of them suddenly gasped when Yasuko was on to their reason for being in the forbidden zone.

"So that means, you've heard?" Hokuto asked,

"Rumors spread like wildfire," said Yasuko. "Don't forget it."

Yabia nodded. "Yeah. That's right," he said. "This is the place where we got our tip from."

The top LDS students face the front of the metal garage door. "We heard that people are saying this is the place where Professor Marco got ambushed," Julia explained.

"Well, duh… The "keep-out" yellow police tape is the giveaway," Yasuko pointed out.

"But that's not gonna stop us," said Yabia.

"Obviously, someone's definitely hiding something inside of this warehouse," said Hokuto with a suspicious look on his face. "If there something they didn't want to show us?"

Yasuko takes one glance at the front of the entrance. They should've put more guards at the area. There was no one barely securing the front. Julia sought this as a chance and ducks down to get under the yellow tape line.

"Not a good idea, Julia," Hokuto warned.

Yasuko has got to admit; Julia's got gusts to go inside of the area that doesn't allow trespassers. Just as Julia manage to get through the front hangar door opens and a security guard that had an "LDS" pin on the collar scowl at all four of them.

"Hey, what are you kids doing here?" he interrogated.

"Whoa," said Yasuko.

"It's a uniformed official!" Hokuto gasped.

"Nothing, just…" Yabia starts to stutter, unable to say their reasons until Julia steps forward with a hand on her chest.

"We're not bad people!" said Julia. "We're all here to find out what happened here. My name is Julia Kotsu, and I took Professor Marco's Advanced Fusion Course at the Leo Institute."

Yasuko's eyes rove to the Fusion girl. She seems to realize that Julia personally knows this professor and she is investigating the incident herself. "And who are your friends?" the security guard asked.

"Please excuse me, but she—" Julia points at Yasuko, "—is not our friend. She happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Yasuko resists the urge to give Julia a whack on her head, but she wouldn't want to do it in front of the Leo Corporation security guard. "I wasn't," said Yasuko. "I was just checking out, that's all."

The security guard turns to the cynical girl. "So, what's your name?" he asked.

"It's Yasuko. Yasuko Yukihana," she introduced.

"I'm Yabia Blade, and I'm honing my skills as a Synchro Summoner," Yabia greeted.

"My name is Hokuto O'Rion, and I study Xyz Summon," Hokuto announced.

From behind the security guard, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turns around and comes face with another guy who is also the security guard. He seems to have a smile on his face to reassure his man to simmer. He returns to face the four people.

"At ease," he said. He comes out and steps forward. "So, you three are students from the Institute?"

"That's right," Julia, Yabia, and Hokuto all said together.

The security guard didn't hear Yasuko and turn to face her. "And you?" he asked.

"I'm…just a bystander who was curious about why this place was locked down, did something happen?" Yasuko pretends to show curiosity to the guards, but the LDS student knows that she's faking it. "I'm sorry if I interrupted, I must be going then," she lied.

Julia kept her eyes on the cynical girl walking away from the crime scene. In fact, the rest of the LDS students were keeping a close eye on her walking across the street and turning the corner.

Yasuko moves a few paces away from the alleyway, and she was in the clear and runs to get to the other side of the construction site. Behind the place was a few obstacles that could require climbing. She hides her bag behind a dumpster and starts climbing.

Yasuko carefully places her fingers around the stone edges of the buildings and never look down. She is sure that she is going to be in big trouble if she is discovered free climbing. Her shin area hasn't recovered yet, so she needs to be cautious with her step. By then, she could see the construction site, but not enough to get a full view.

"I got this, I got this…" she whispered to encourage herself.

Once she gets higher, the unfinished floor came to her view. It was a risk that she is going to pull. The height from the building she climbs up is high enough to jump. Yasuko grunts as she pulls herself up and stands at the edge.

She mentally prepares herself and breathes in and out to get her ready. A few more sessions and with only big cat leap, Yasuko flies in the air and touches down at the floor as she barrel-rolls to slow the momentum down. She waits, hoping that the sound of her landing won't attract any attention. A few more seconds and nothing happen. She exhales as a painful sensation from her shin comes back and massages it to ease the pain for now.

"Damn, so much for doctor's light order," she said to herself. Propping herself up, Yasuko makes way down until she could see the investigation team on the working on something.

"Can we take forensics on this?"

"I need that analysis, people."

Yasuko peeked up and spotted something odd. On the wall, there were large claw markings on the wall. It looks like a giant bird must've scratched the surfaces around the concrete blocks. She was amazed by how a creature can create a mess. Yasuko wants to get more information, but they won't get anything else this far. She starts to head back to a fence when she spotted something gleaming on the ground.

"Huh?" Yasuko bends down to pick up a badge. It had the "LDS" insignia. As quietly as possible, she walks to find a safer way out of the site.

* * *

Yasuko was processing what kind of creature would be scratching the construction site. For a single assault, the damage would be a pain for those construction workers who were building a warehouse.

What's more, is that she found an LDS badge pin that she picked up earlier. She examines the thing from the smallest details. It had minor scratches and dirt all over, but still clean like it was brand new. Come to think of it, she recalls seeing the guard at the door wearing the same badge like the one she is holding.

"This is getting even weirder," Yasuko said. As she thinks what she saw back at the construction site, something bright startles her.

"What the…" Yasuko inquired as she looks down at her pendant keychain connected to her jean belt loop. "What the hell? My keychain's glowing?" Yasuko finds it surprising to see that her simple keychain with a pendant is glowing like a lightbulb. She wondered what is causing the keychain to glow unexpectedly. Then, like a candle, the glowing dims until there was no light anymore.

"Okay, that's—" Something crash a dumpster at the alleyway. Yasuko stops and turns to face what banged the dumpster. Carefully stepping around, she finds two feet sticking out from behind the dumpster. Coming closer, she saw that it was a young man, maybe as young as her. The stranger had a cloak on him with a red shemagh scarf around his neck. He groans with a weary tone. At hearing this, Yasuko drops her bag and quickly come to aid the stranger. "Hey, mister, are you okay?" she asked. As she helps get him up. While doing so, the mask from his face fell, revealing his real face.

It was like Yasuko got hit with a soccer ball to her face as she gasped at seeing the face. She took a step back with surprise and disbelief. "Yu…Yuya? What...the...? What are you, Yuya?" Yasuko stuttered

Before she could ask more, the Yuya doppelgänger stood up, facing Yasuko with wide eyes. Quickly, the Yuya doppelgänger grabs his mask to put it back on and sprints to the other side of the alleyway.

"Hey, wait!" Yasuko called, giving a chase after him in the alleyway. She runs as fast as she could to bring herself to confront the stranger that has the face of Yuya Sakaki, but she stops chasing the moment the Yuya doppelgänger makes a tic tac on the side and wall-runs over a dead-end. He disappears on the other side of the wall.

Yasuko was out of breath, not by exhaustion, but by shock. She then thought back of what Zuzu said about seeing Yuya at the pier. "Zuzu…whatever you saw back at the harbor, I'm starting to think you're not seeing things too."

* * *

 **Just need to take a break from all the dueling and stuff like that. Slow update. Nothing more, but it will be a drag now that this is where we're getting into. Looks like I'm going to be a whole lot busier now on. Anyways, I didn't get the chance to say this when I started, but Eliza211, Hunter HQ,** **Bboone, MCRDanime, Zeowolf9, RoseWriter12, Romadrox8975, Sweetly Nera, and various random guests who've read my story, thank you for taking the time to read some parts of the chapters and the feedbacks.**

 **I'll aim t get even better as I go along, proofread, and get the grammar down.**

 **Now to mention the duels in this chapter, I didn't realize it, but it's way past my days when the rules were so relaxed not so very strict, so my mistake in any of the previous duels in this one. I'll try to get better for the rest of the story. Thank you for taking the time to read this part and don't forget to get your feedback, your thoughts, and what you like about this story so far.**

 **Have a wonderful day, readers!**


	17. Chapter 17: Battle of Fusion Masters

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the regular OC character.**

 **This story is not for advertisement or profits; it is only for the sole purpose of entertainment.**

* * *

 _Chapter 17: Battle of Fusion Masters; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Julia Kotsu_

* * *

The weekend was her time, and she wants to do is stay back, but last night, she can't help but know something about the stranger who looks almost identical to Yuya Sakaki. The stranger had the same face as Yuya, but he's more of a rock, and goth type like instead of the casual green cargo pants and red shirt with a brown belt followed up with a white Maiami Prep jacket around his neck.

Yasuko had no idea who she saw that other day. She thought that it might be Yuya Sakaki, but she dismissed it because the boy isn't into the whole cloak-and-darkness type.

Heading downstairs to the kitchen, Yasuko notices that Diana is not in the kitchen. "Huh? Could be running errands again," she assumed. That is if there was a note on the refrigerator. Yasuko examines the note left behind by Diana, and read:

" _Yasuko, It's Diana. I'm currently needed to help someone with running errands for the day, so there should be macaroni and fish in the fridge for lunch. BTW, I couldn't make you some breakfast today, but there should be pancake mix inside. You can cook up some if you want._

 _With care, Diana"_

Yasuko's right eyes give an irksome twitch with an angry vein popping out. She can't believe that her caretaker left her early in the morning for some important business. Doesn't Diana know that she is only the beginner on cooking her own food?

"Son of a…bitch…" Yasuko cursed before sighed. "Fine, guess I'll have to go and find my own food then."

* * *

Yasuko's gym bag was heavier than what she usually carries because breakfast is cutting short on her for the day. She picks up as many fruits grown in Diana's backyard, and munch in some apples and orange slices she cut up. It was not enough, and she needs some decent food.

Yasuko gets drop off at the bus stop just a few blocks away from his place, and she starts walking across the street to Yuya's address. It was the only place where she knows of a person who can make better pancakes.

While walking, questions are buzzing in the back of her head. She wonders who the Yuya doppelgänger was. She wishes to know more, but it's not going to help her if her stomach is growling. No matter how many times Yasuko's eaten the snacks in her bag, it would just growl even louder. "Damn it, woman," she cursed. "You left me some macaroni and fish for lunch, but now I'm practically starving."

Yasuko lets out a breath as soon as she sees the glass house on the other end of the street. "I just hope that Mrs. Sakaki is making something before I arrive."

When Yasuko rang the doorbell, Sora pops his head to open the door for Yoko. "Oi, Yasuko, good morning!" he beamed.

The smile on Sora's face makes Yasuko irritated to her perspective. "You seem happy to be here," she said. "Has Yuya woken up?"

Sora looks over the door. "I think he's still in the bathroom," he assumed.

"Right." Yasuko takes her shoes off and puts down her bag as she enters the kitchen.

She spots Yoko Sakaki at the counter. "Good morning, Mrs. Sakaki," she greeted.

Yoko turns around. "Oh, hey, good morning, Yasuko," she greeted back. "I didn't know that you were coming."

Yasuko sits down at an open chair at the kitchen table. "My caretaker is out for some important business today, and I'm all out of pancake mix, so I thought I come by and see if I can have some breakfast here with you," she told her.

"Really?" Yoko inquired.

"Yeah, I know I'm not the person who makes requests," Yasuko admitted. "But I'm starting to like your pancakes, Ms. Sakaki." She glances over to Yoko who is taking a long time to cook some breakfast. As she waits, the door opens, and Yuya came in.

"Oh, Yuya!" Sora called. "Good morning!"

Yasuko turns to him as well. "Hey, what's up." She remains her casual self like she usually would, keeping a distance from Yuya to observe him. Obviously, he's still the same slacker that she met.

"Oh, good morning." Yasuko could hear how Yuya is disappointed to see them both. "Nice to see you guys up bright, and early," said Yuya.

"Diana is out for today, so I'm pretty much on my own for the rest of the morning," Yasuko replied. She roves her eyes over to him. "Say, did anything happen yesterday?"

Yuya blinked once in confusion. "Uh. No, nothing happened. Why'd you asked?" he asked.

Yasuko crosses her arms at the table and puts her head down. "Nothing. I just want some breakfast." Her response leaves Yuya confused.

Sora beams at her. "Well, you know what they say, 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day,'" he smiled.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow at him. "You seem excited," she stated. "What gives?"

Sora's beam got even brighter. "I want to say to Yuya good luck on his four matches that starts today," he said. "Yuya's got his first big duel this morning, and I got mine just today. That Nico Smiley guy hooked me up, and I got them big time."

Yuya's eyes frowned. "You mean to tell me that you're dueling today to enter the Arc League Championship too?" he questioned.

"Yeah!" Sora exclaimed in excitement. "Since I only have to win six matches in a row, it'll be easy as a breeze!" Sora's so excited that he was playing with his knife and fork like he was singing a song.

Yuya gives a sigh of annoyance. "Yeah, a breeze…"

"What's wrong with Sora entering?" Yasuko asked. "You should be grateful that you've got numbers on your side."

Sora then glances over to Yasuko. "Hey, Yasuko, are you entering?" he asked.

"No," is her response, causing Sora to gasp in shock. "What!? You're not entering?!"

"I am not dueling for attention, kid," Yasuko scowled. "I hate popularity contests." Her eyes move to the other direction to avoid gazes from Yuya or Sora.

"But it'll be fun," Sora insisted. "You should enter it! You can Synchro Summon and Pendulum Summon! I bet everyone will love you for doing that!"

Yuya holds a finger to add something else to him which Sora doesn't know about. "Actually, now she can do Pendulum, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon now," he corrected.

"What?!" Sora gasped, looking at Yuya before staring at Yasuko with bewilderment. "No kidding?! You mean that you can all four of them?"

Yasuko's gaze was focused on Yoko's back who is still taking a long time to make a simple breakfast meal. "So what? It's as simple as Algebra 1," she said in a blunt tone. "What are you? Elementary?"

Sora's mouth pursed. He felt that he was insulted by Yasuko. "That's not very nice, you know," he responded.

"It's not an insult; it's a question," Yasuko replied.

Yuya thinks nothing more than have some excellent comfortable breakfast as he turns to his mother. "Hey, mom, when is breakfast ready?" he asked.

Everyone's head jerk over to the woman at the stove. Each one has different reactions: Sora is excited, Yasuko is impatient, and Yuya is curious. They wait to hear what Yoko is making and when she will be done; unfortunately, their expectations are not what they thought.

"Not for a while." Her answer surprises them. All mouths ajar and eyes widen at Yoko struggling to make something behind the counter. "I'm making mille-feuille pork cutlets and special salad, but the recipe's a lot complicated."

Yasuko gives a disgusted sound from her mouth and slams her head on the table in frustration. "Ugh…you've got to be kidding me," she groaned. "First Diana, now you? Am I the only one who's not getting anything this morning?" Her frustration grew as big as her stomach growl. It feels like it's about to eat itself.

Yuya comes forward to talk to his mother about the cooking process. "Uh, to tell you the truth, mom, I'd rather you make something simple like pancakes as usual," he suggested.

"But everybody's been raving about Michio Pepper's," Yoko stated. "And I want to try his new recipes."

The argument between Yuya and his mother isn't helping Yasuko. Her eyes glower even deeper. Yuya continues to argue with his mother about making something simple like pancakes and not anything special like what Michio has in the recipe book.

Sora wastes no time having his own breakfast with a packaged milk carton while Yasuko looks on at the boy.

"Got any more of that?" Yasuko asked.

Sora shakes his head. "Sorry, this is my only one."

Yasuko's heavy sigh shows a side of crankiness. It would seem that her breakfast at Yuya's place is not going to happen anytime soon especially when Yuya drops something that messes up his mother's dish.

* * *

Taking the bus to the location of the duel school is faster than walking with an empty stomach. Neither Yasuko nor Yuya had ever got anything to eat for the morning. Her scowl might probably be staying there all day.

"Nice going," Yasuko retorted. "Because you messed up your mom's fascinated pancakes with this guy's stupid recipe, I am not having any breakfast."

Yuya turns to her with a comedian glare. "Don't tell me you haven't eaten anything because my mom's cooking something new!" he snapped.

Her arms crossed against her chest as the ride to their designated duel location comes closer. "I wanted to make some pancakes back home, but I don't have olive oil," said Yasuko.

"It's not my fault you didn't get to eat anything all day," Yuya mumbled.

Yasuko looks over to Yuya. "Tell that to Diana when she comes back from whatever her business is finished."

The bus stops and they exit out of the vehicle. The location is close to their spot. Yuya's stomach growled so loud that Yasuko could hear it. "I think you should forget about this duel and postpone it until tomorrow or something," she suggested. "I mean, you can't eat on an empty stomach."

"No way, absolutely not!" Yuya declined. "This is a one-time deal that Nico set up, and I can't just postpone it when the Arc League Championship is coming soon!"

Yasuko sighed. "Fine, whatever." She starts walking down the sidewalk with Yuya beside her. "So, you don't know how to do any Extra Deck Summoning techniques?" she asked.

Yuya shakes his head. "No, I don't actually," he replied. "I never even did a Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon before."

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly, trying to find more out of the boy. "Well, if you're gonna win with Pendulum, perhaps I can give you some pointers," she stated. "Basically, you need to be careful of which cards can affect your Pendulum abilities. After thinking about it, destroying Pendulum cards won't be sufficient, but what you need is to solidify your defense against anything that involves banishing your Pendulum cards. If you can avoid anything like that, then you'll be sure to stay on track. That's simple, got it Yuya?"

She turns her head to face Yuya. An angry vein pops on her head when she saw Yuya drowning into the stomach growls. "Hey! Are you even listening!?" Yasuko yelled loud enough to get his attention.

"Uh! What? What did you say Yasuko? I wasn't listening." Yuya should've made a proper excuse before Yasuko slams the top of his head with her gym bag. He cries out and holds his head to ease the pain with comedian tears leaking.

"I am giving you advice about how you can protect your Pendulum Summon and here you are; slacking off like some nutjob idiot with the appetite problem!" Yasuko exclaimed.

"But I'm so hungry," Yuya wailed. "I cannot concentrate or think about anything else other than food and if I cannot get something to eat…" Yuya holds a hand to his stomach, feeling it grumbling in anger for food.

Yasuko makes a sound of disgust and investigates her bag for something to give to him. She has one food that can help and offers Yuya a protein bar. "Here, this should last you for an hour."

Yuya snatches the protein bar from Yasuko's hands and munches down on the small food.

"Geez, you're more of a pain in the ass you know—" Yasuko suddenly paused. Her mouth gasped, and her nose starts to sniff something in the air.

"Hey, what is it?" Yuya asked.

"Do you smell that?" Yasuko sniffs the air deeper to smell the aroma.

Yuya snivels the air, and he smells it as well. "I smell it too!" he called.

Their noses were picking on the scent like animals as the duo soon grasped what they smell. The aroma scents like baked flours and fried chicken cooking perfectly. "Whatever that smell is, it's delicious," said Yasuko.

"And when that smells great, that means its breakfast time!" Yuya runs off to where the scent is coming from with Yasuko following behind.

The scent of something tasty is making the stomachs growl even louder but the mood changes. They were getting closer to the smell. Two blocks later, Yuya stops running and so does Yasuko. "Why'd you stop?" she asked. "Did you find a buffet?"

"Uh…" Yuya looks around until his eyes turn to the building in front of him. Yasuko follows suit and sees that it was a campus school where it had cooking as the main theme. "I think it came from here," he assumed.

Yasuko and Yuya both look up at the big sign on the building, and it said in big letters:

 _Kirigakure Cuisine Cooking School_

Yuya suddenly recognizes the name. "Uh. Hey, I just remembered." He takes out his duel disk from his cargo pocket and checks the address of the duel school. "This is the address where my duel is supposed to be," he recalled.

"Really? Your first duel is actually in a cooking class?" Yasuko inquired.

Out of the blue, someone behind Yasuko called to Yuya in a very creepy tone. "I've been waiting for you, Yuya Sakaki." The stranger's voice makes Yasuko yelp in surprise and turns around to find a skinny man wearing a pink, yellow, and black jacket and a ribbon tie who has straight black hair with pink-orange glasses and his little mustache.

"Asshole! Don't do that!" Yasuko exclaimed.

Yuya was even startled by the sudden appearance of the man until he relaxes when he recognizes him as Nico Smiley. "Uh. Hey, it's Nico Smiley," said Yuya.

Nico gestures his hand to the entrance. "Step right in," he said.

Yasuko finds Nico Smiley to be the creepiest person she's ever met. His mustache reminds her of the worst person to exist. "No offense, dude, but this is a cooking school," she pointed out. "As in, no duels: just cooking."

Nico held a finger. "Ah, but all the answers will be revealed once we get inside." Despite Yuya's protest, Nico insists for him to enter and lightly pushes the boy to the entrance. Yasuko follows them.

Inside the duel school has the most delicious thing that she has ever smell since she had Diana's crispy katsu fish last night. The front desk was not much of a design, but as she goes inside the building deeper, the scent of the aroma becomes more delightful.

Upon entering in the big arena, the aroma was getting stronger that Yasuko is having a little difficult to resist the urge to drool over the scent. She looks around the people who were taking cooking lessons at the watch room.

Yuya hums at the scent of food being cooked. "Smells like something is delicious," he drawled, practically drooling over the smell.

Yasuko slaps her backhand on his chest. "Yuya, focus," she called. "Duel first, eat later." She looked around and saw a big banner that hangs over the watch room. "Michio Pepper? Is that who Mrs. Sakaki was talking about?"

Yuya turns his gaze to the banner. "Michio Pepper?" he asked.

His question was answered when Nico Smiley got on the microphone and began to announce to the duel. "Allow me to introduce the celebrity opponent for the day! The king of the kitchen! Michio Pepper!" At his announcement, the smog at the front of the stage bellows around the spotlights.

A shadowy figure rises under the lights, and like a spectacular magic show, the smog dims to reveal a boy with orange hair and a pinkish red bang that hangs down at the front. He also has pale skin and freckles. His eyes seem to be shut or squinting, neither of the duelists couldn't tell.

"So, this is Michio Pepper?" Yasuko inquired. "Not much of a duelist if you ask me." Her eyes don't deceive her on his looks. Her eardrums blare with the cheers of his female companions and fans from the watch room.

Yuya was skeptical at his opponent. He does not look like much of a duelist, and he can agree with Yasuko. His mouth opens in surprise as the cooking duelist speaks to him. "So, you're Yuya Sakaki? Nice to meet you," greeted Michio.

The chef walks his way to meet Yuya in person. While doing so, Nico Smiley got close to Yuya to explain the opponent he is facing. "Michio Pepper is a fabulously famous celebrity chef who makes his own recipes," he clarified. "He is popular among housewives whenever they had trouble creating their daily menu."

Just hearing what Nico describe the famous chef makes the stomachs from Yasuko and Yuya growl together. "Sounds like you two are hungry, huh?" Michio inquired.

Yasuko crosses her arms with a slight blush on her cheeks. "If Diana hadn't left today or Yuya's mother could have cooked us some decent meal, then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess," she grumbled.

Yuya was practically blushing in embarrassment as well. "Neither of us didn't get to eat breakfast because we had a bad start," he chuckled. "Plus, it's hard to resist all the delicious smells in here."

Yasuko couldn't agree with Yuya more. The cooking atmosphere in the school is making her hungrier and crankier. "It _is_ hard to resist the smell of cooking oil in this place," she said.

"Well, since you've got the taste for competition, I'll whip this up with a Cooking Duel based on my perfect recipe that my fans love to adore," said Michio.

"Principal Kirigakure!" A woman shouted, catch the attention of Yuya and Yasuko. They turn a dark-haired woman with glasses shouting to the current principal of the cooking school. "What is the meaning of this?! Michio has already qualified for the Arc League Championship! Why does he have another match?" Michio's mother questioned the headmaster of the school.

"Madam, I've explained to you about this before," said the headmaster.

"Mom, it's okay," Michio called. "I'm going up against Yuya Sakaki. He's known as the duelist who beat the Sledgehammer." Yuya scratches the back of his head and blushes again over his title, laughing. "But that's okay, I'm having _him_ for breakfast." Yuya stops laughing and narrows his eyes at the cooking duelist with a mysterious look.

Yasuko gives a soft glare and the same look that Yuya has on his face. She does not like the mother the moment she heard her attitude. Michio and his mother walk off to the opposite side of the field. As she watched them leave, she heard someone that she never thought she'd see.

"Yuya! Yasuko!" To their surprise, the two duelists turn around and find the three You-Show kids.

"Oh, hey there kids," said Yasuko.

"What are you doing here?" Yuya asked.

"We're here to cheer you on!" Allie beamed.

"This match is your first step to becoming a pro," said Tate.

"Win and make me shiver!" Frederick smiled.

"Well, good luck then," said Yasuko, turning her body to walk out of the stadium. "If you need me, I'll be looking for my own meal."

The three children look over to Yasuko who is leading the area.

"What? But Yuya's match is about to start," Tate pointed out.

"And this place is a food school; you can find yourself plenty of food here," Allie added.

Yasuko glances over her shoulder to the three kids. "I'm not in the mood to be seeing a duel or cooking today, I just want something to eat, and be done with it," she told them before facing back forward.

* * *

Just about half an hour after taking the trip over to the cooking duel school, Yasuko thinks about having some ramen for brunch. Out of all the ramen shops in the city, there is only one decent place where it is excellent and cheap. It's been a while since she last had ramen before she moved the town.

She exits out of the shop after a decent brunch and proceeds to do what she can for today. She thought of going back to the cooking school to see how Yuya is doing, but if she may presume, she thinks Yuya would already win against Michio because he has Pendulum Summon and, hopefully, understand the weakness behind his Pendulum.

Yasuko was not in the mood for any duels. There is a lot of things to think about. She is thinking about the stranger who looks like Yuya Sakaki.

Her head flashbacks to the day when she saw a bright pink light from the alleyway and the Yuya doppelgänger. The way he looked at her tells that he is spooked. She recalls what Zuzu said about 'Yuya' being at the harbor. After thinking of how Yuya was at the school and at the port at the same time when she was with him only for a short moment, Yasuko may have to about everything that Zuzu said when the LDS came.

As she was lost in her train of thoughts, someone calls to her attention. "Hey, you!"

Yasuko stops her steps and turns around. Her frown matches to the one that was on Julia Kotsu. "Oh, it's you, the girl from the Leo Institute's Fusion course," she said. "What do you want?"

Julia frowns even further, getting tempted with Yasuko. "I have questions about yesterday, and you're gonna answer them," she demanded.

Yasuko keeps her frown stable, hiding how curious she is of what Julia wants to talk to her about. Maybe, it's from yesterday when she was at the construction site of where an LDS teacher was attacked. She knows better than to be snooping around with the three students are involved.

"What is it?" Yasuko asked bluntly.

"What were you doing in the Kanime district?" Julia questioned.

Yasuko gives a short humph and turns her head. "I have no idea what you're talking about," she denied.

"Don't play stupid!" Julia retorted. "I know you're not the one who gets suspicious. You remember the day when we left your Duel School after your duel against Declan? It was because we heard the news that Professor Marco had suddenly disappeared!" Julia explained out loud.

"Professor Marco?" Yasuko queried. "Is he your teacher?"

"Yes. Marco was my teacher... the one that taught me Fusion Summoning! And the teacher that I admired!" Julia exclaimed as she looked down. "Because of his disappearance, I want to find out if the masked man had something to do with his disappearance!"

Yasuko's mouth gaped, remembering the stranger who had a mask on his face. "The masked man?" she repeated. She blinks once to regain her usual posture. She thinks of what Julia said that the masked man happens to be the one responsible for her professor's disappearance. She saw the Yuya doppelgänger had a mask on his face.

Yasuko wonders who the masked man would look like from Julia's perspective and tries to describe the man she is relating to her standpoint. "Does this masked man have black hair in the back with light purple hair in the front, wearing some rock and punk style altogether?" Yasuko described.

Julia snaps her eyes to the cynical girl. "How'd you know that?" she gasped.

Yasuko should've just kept her mouth shut. "I don't know."

"I want you to tell me where that masked man is! You were with him, were you not!?" Julia demanded desperately.

Yasuko shook his head before he turned to speak with his former opponent. "Sorry... I don't know. That's all I can tell you for now," she replied.

Julia frowns at Yasuko. "No... You're lying! You knew what he looked like, did you!? You just told me the identity of that masked stranger, and I know who that stranger looked like! I want answers, and I want them now!" Julia snapped as she took out her duel disk and attached it to her left wrist.

Yasuko raises one eyebrow. "You _really_ want to do this? Did you forget my duel with Declan?" she questioned. "People won't believe me for this, but I just beat a man like Declan Akaba, the CEO of the Leo Corporation."

"I didn't forget!" Julia barked. "So what if you can do Synchro and Pendulum Summon! You've never faced someone who has mastered Fusion Summon before!"

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "Girlfriend, you have _no_ idea what I'm capable of," she murmured. Seeing how well determined and serious Julia is about the Marco incident, she knows that the only to prove her is by Dueling.

"But if that's the way it is," she speaks up. "Then let's head somewhere besides this place, I don't want anyone spotting us."

* * *

It was hard for Yasuko, but she did convince Julia to head to the Maiami City harbor where it is the only logical place that is isolated from anyone watching.

Surrounded by metal crates and big wooden boxes, Yasuko stands across from Julia. She drops her gym bag and takes out her duel disk from her holster. She throws it up before it attaches to her forearm and her blue blade glows out like a sharp spike. At the same time, Julia's orange blade pops up.

"Once I defeat you," Julia declared. "I'll get the true answer out of you, and you'll tell where I can find that masked Duelist!"

"I'd like to see you try, princess," Yasuko replied.

With two duelists ready, they shouted all together. " _ **DUEL!**_ "

 **DUEL:**

 **Julia Kotsu: LP 4000**

 **VS**

 **Yasuko Yukihana: LP 4000**

 **Turn 1: Julia (5x cards)**

"I'll be going first!" Julia announced. Julia looks down at her hand and finds it to be a perfect setup for her. Her mouth curves to a smirk. Taking out one card, she plays the Spell Card: **Absorb Fusion**.

"I activate the Spell, Absorb Fusion!" Julia announced. "This Spell card lets me select one Gem-Knight monster from my deck and add it to my hand, and then, I can activate its effect." Julia's deck ejects one card and takes it out to show Yasuko that she is drawing **Gem-Knight Amber**.

"I can Fusion Summon one Gem-Knight monster from my Extra Deck by banishing the materials that are on the field or in my hand, so I'm going to banish these two from my hand." Julia takes out two cards and raises them in the air to show that monsters that she is banishing.

Yasuko can see Julia banishing **Gem-Knight Garnet** and **Gem-Knight Amber** that were from her hand. "I banish Gem-Knight Garnet and Gem-Knight Amber to fuse them!" The swirling vortex of red and blue pops up and a red-armored Gem-Knight and a bright yellow-orange armored Gem-Knight materialized to be mixed into the vortex.

" _Scarlet red knight! Arise and strike down with your mighty ax that shines from your blade!_ " Julia chanted. "I _**Fusion Summon!**_ _Come on out, Gem-Knight Ruby_!" Julia Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Ruby (ATK** **2500/DEF 1300)**.

From the vortex emerges a bigger red armored Gem-Knight monster with a blue cape and an ax. The red knight spins the ax in front of him before hopping down in front of Julia. "Next, I set a card face-down, and end my turn with just that." Julia Sets a card face-down on the field.

"Your move, Yukihana," Julia insisted. "Let's see what you're made of."

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko didn't reply back. She is keeping herself calm and collective. She recalls seeing Julia's Gem-Knights and her Fusion monsters again at You Show, but she never saw a beast like the one in front of her before.

"That's something new," Yasuko commented. "Got any more of those?"

Julia kept a straight face as she replied, "I have more to offer than just the ones you saw back at You Show."

Yasuko's eyes narrowed slightly. "It's my turn!" She draws a card from her deck. She looks at her hand. She doesn't have a lot of components to make a Pendulum Summon. It should be fine for her. Yasuko's not going to rely on just Pendulum alone; she can do things before Pendulum Summon came to her deck.

She takes out a card. "I summon Lady of D." Yasuko Normal Summons **Lady of D. (ATK 1500/DEF 1100)**. On Yasuko's field, a blonde woman wearing blue armor and a cape appear on the field.

"Next, I play the Continuous Spell card, Supply Squad." Yasuko activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Supply Squad**. "Once per turn, this card lets me draw a card if a monster is ever destroyed by card effect or battle on my field," she explained.

Taking out one more card, she sets up her formation. "I set a card face-down and end my turn." Yasuko Sets a card.

 **Turn 3: Julia (2x cards)**

Julia is not impressed with her first move. "What? That's it?" she inquired. "You're not gonna Pendulum Summon?"

Yasuko remains firm and hard to her opponent. "I don't need Pendulum to beat you, Julia Kotsu," she responded. "I can beat you even without Pendulum Summon, but I want to see what you've got, and by the looks of things, I'd say you're not even impressive."

Julia is angry at Yasuko for underestimating her. "Well, you don't even know what I can do!" Julia draws a card. "I draw!"

By looking at the card that she drew, Julia plays a Continuous Spell Card: **Brilliant Fusion**. "I activate the Continuous Spell card, Brilliant Fusion! This card lets me Fusion Summon one "Gem-Knight" monster from my Extra Deck with the materials that are in my deck or on the field. And guess what? I've got about three of them!" Julia demonstrates by pulling out **Gem-Knight Crystal** , **Gem-Knight Sapphire,** and **Gem-Knight Sandornyx** she chooses from her deck.

Yasuko is surprised to see that Julia can be able to Fusion Summon from her deck. "Fusion Summon from the Main Deck?" she inquired.

"I fuse Gem-Knight Crystal, Gem-Knight Sapphire, and Gem-Knight Sandornyx to Fusion Summon a monster that will be your end!" From the red-orange purple vortex in the air, two Gem-Knight monsters: one purple, one blue, and a sandornyx monster, appears before being swallowed in the whirlpool.

 _Crystal stone, merge with the blue one and the beautiful red and white into the whirlpool to fuse and create the one that shines brightly upon sight!_ _I_ _**Fusion Summon!**_ _Appear! Supreme radiance who illuminates everything!_ _Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"_ Julia Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Master Diamond (ATK 2900/DEF 2500)**. Before Yasuko is the same monster that squashed Zuzu in the duel between You-Show and the Leo Institute. The colossal, shiny Gem-Knight appears on the field per its massive sword decorated with various gemstones.

"Because of Brilliant Fusion's effect, the ATK and DEF points of my Master Diamond is reduced to 0 whenever it was summoned using this card." Julia's admonition proves true when the monster's attack and defense points all go down to zero.

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 2900/DEF 2500** → **ATK 0/** **DEF 0)**

"That's kinda stupid," Yasuko offended. "You summoned your most powerful monster, and yet, you've already wasted it with only just 0 ATK points."

Julia smirks as she closes her eyes in satisfaction. "That may be true, but I can reserve its power by sending one Spell card from my hand to the graveyard to have my monster regain its original ATK and DEF points until the end of my next Standby Phase," she explained. "I send my Gem-Knight Fusion to the graveyard to have Master Diamond regains all those lost points."

Julia discards her **Gem-Knight Fusion** Spell Card to allow her monster to become strong.

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 0/DEF 0** → **ATK 2900/DEF 2500)**

She flings her arm back to finish off the girl. "I activate Gem-Knight Master Diamond's special effect," she said. "This card gains 100 ATK points for every "Gem" in my graveyard."

Three mirages of the Gem-Knight monsters appear in front of her. "And so far, I have Gem-Knight Obsidian, Gem-Knight Ruby, and Gem-Knight Iolite in my graveyard! That means it gains 300 ATK points!" The colossal Gem-Knight glows yellow aura around its body.

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 2900** → **3200)**

"Well…shit," Yasuko cursed.

Julia had a satisfied smirk on her face, satisfied that she gets to one-turn-kill the girl who beat Declan. "And here, I thought you were going to be serious," she said. Her eyes narrow with disappointment. "Not since you can't beat Declan with cards like those."

Yasuko narrows her eyes in response to the girl's refusal. "Excuse me?" she accused. "Are you saying I was lucky because I beat Declan?"

Julia gives a snort. "Of course," she admitted. "Someone like you to beat Declan Akaba with just Synchro and Pendulum Summon alone is not enough," she reprimanded. "Obviously, you only won through sheer luck! There is no way someone like _you_ —" Julia points at Yasuko, "—could ever beat a duelist like Declan!"

Julia clenches her right hand into a fist. "It takes hard work to be the best," she said. "That is how a true duelist works his or her way up to be the best."

Yasuko can feel the right eye twitching. "For the record, I don't like to overload myself with a bunch of crap," she responded. "So, shut up and finish your move already."

Julia raises an eyebrow in disgust. "Move? More like this duel," she corrected. "Face it, you don't know what it takes to face someone who can use the LDS Fusion Summon." She then raises her hand at Yasuko.

"Battle! Gem-Knight Ruby, attack Lady of D!" Julia ordered.

The red ruby knight spins its ax before leaping up in the air and raises its weapon high in the air. The monster then fell down and sliced the dragon sorcerer.

Yasuko remains unfazed by the wind blowing to her face and neither by the damage she received.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3000)**

"Since you've destroyed one of my monsters, I activate Supply Squad's special effect to draw a card," Yasuko pointed out as she draws one card from her deck.

"That'll won't help you," Julia rebuked. "Cuz this final attack will finish you for sure!" Julia shouted. "Gem-Knight Master Diamond, attack Yasuko directly!" The colossal Gem-Knight raises his sword in the air and slams it to the ground to create a powerful shockwave that is coming straight for Yasuko.

Just as it could hit the girl, Yasuko creates a shield to counter it. "I play my Trap Card! Counter Gate!" she declared as she activates up her Trap Card: **Counter Gate**. The trap card flips up, and the shockwave is being repelled by a force field that surrounds the girl.

"What?!" Julia gasped.

Even though the shockwave was gone, the winds of the attack seemingly blows her bangs or could be the winds from outside. "Is _that_ luck to you?" Yasuko asked. "Because this trap card can only be activated if a monster attacks me directly! When it does, this card negates your attack and lets me draw a card!" Yasuko places two fingers on top of her deck. "And if it's a monster, I get to Normal Summon it!" With one fast swipe of her arm, Yasuko draws a card. She checks, and it's a monster.

"I drew a monster, so that means I get to summon Assault Wyvern!" Due to the effects of her trap card, Yasuko was able to Normal Summon **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)** in Attack Position. On her field is a blue wyvern with blue scales and a chin bone.

"You said a duelist earns their top through hard work, huh?" Yasuko repeats the statement that Julia tells her. "Well, did your hard work expect you to face an opponent with cards such as these?"

Julia can only grit her teeth in anger after she fails to end the duel. "How dare you," she growled. "I end my turn," she concluded.

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (4x cards)**

"It's my turn!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. Clearly, Yasuko needs to step it up against Julia in one shot. She takes out one card and makes her turn.

"I summon the Paladin of Felgrand!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Paladin of Felgrand (ATK 1700/DEF 300)**. A blonde warrior with shining blue armor and a lavender cape wielding a sword appears on the field. "And now I activate its special effect!" she said. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my hand or deck and equip it to this monster."

Julia's mouth opens ajar in the slightest. "Equip?" she queried.

"I equip Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frission from my deck to my Paladin of Felgrand." Yasuko takes out one card from her deck and equips **Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson** to her monster. The dragon had a grotesque appearance that Julia has ever seen because most of its body is a mixture of bones and flesh in half of his body revealing muscles and meat. The paladin hops on board, and the dragon roars to the monsters in front of it.

"Next, I activate this Quick-Play Spell: Gravity Lash!" Yasuko declared as she activates her Quick-Play Spell Card: **Gravity Lash**. The spell card shoots out a green electric bolt straight forward to the colossal Gem-Knight. He grunts in pain as the green statics decreased the monster's attack points.

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 3200** → **700)**

Julia is in shock to see her monster weaker than Yasuko's own monster. "Hey, what happened to my monster's ATK points?!" she questioned.

"Gravity Lash lets me target one monster on the field and decrease it's ATK points equal to the DEF points of the monster I choose," Yasuko explained. She points her finger at Julia's only monster on the field. "And since Gem-Knight Master Diamond has the highest DEF points, its ATK points is decreased!"

Julia can only grit her teeth in anger when Yasuko reversed their role.

Now Yasuko can attack without worrying about the monster's attack points. "Now, battle! Assault Wyvern, attack Master Diamond!" The blue wyvern flies ahead and tackles the master diamond with its chin horn, destroying it to damage Julia.

 **(Julia: LP 4000** → **2900)**

Yasuko keeps her narrowed eyes at her opponent. "Now who's lucky?" she questioned. "And since your Master Diamond was destroyed, so is your Spell Card!" The face-up Spell Card in Julia's field is destroyed instantly.

"Assault Wyvern's special effect activates!" Yasuko called. "When it destroys a monster in battle, I can tribute this monster to Special Summon a Dragon-type monster from my hand or graveyard! So, by sending my Assault Wyvern, I can Special Summon Krystal Dragon from my hand!" Yasuko releases her blue wyvern to Special Summon **Krystal Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 1000)**. A blue crystalized dragon with bright yellow eyes appears on the field behind Yasuko.

Julian scowls hard at the girl. "Like that will stop me! I play my Trap Card! Gem-Enhancement!" Julia activates her Trap Card: **Gem-Enhancement**. "This Trap card lets me tribute one Gem-Knight monster that was in my field and Special Summon one "Gem-Knight" monster that was in the graveyard to the field!" Julia raises her hand to the ruby knight. "I tribute my Gem-Knight Ruby to Special Summon my Gem-Knight Master Diamond!" The ruby knight was glowing from the inside of its armor. He grunts before he bursts in an explosion to have it Special Summon **Gem-Knight Master Diamond** , the colossal Gem-Knight with a giant sword in its hands.

"And Master Diamond's effect allows it to gain 100 ATK points for every "Gem-Knight" monster that are in my graveyard," Julia added as a yellow aura glows around the master diamond knight to boost his points.

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 2900** → **3300)**

Yasuko tightens her jaws, feeling annoyed that Julia had to bring back her strongest monster on the field. Neither her crystal dragon nor her paladin knight is strong enough to stand against the master diamond knight.

"Shit," she cursed. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Yasuko Sets two cards on the field.

 **Turn 5: Julia (1x card)**

Julia is getting serious with the duel. Despite her best efforts, it would seem that she is wrong about Yasuko being lucky. She knows what she is doing, and Julia can't afford to lose.

"It's my turn now!" Julia declared as she draws a card from her deck. "I'll show you why I am the master of Fusion Summon," she stated. "Here, see for yourself." Julia Normal Summons **Gem-Armadillo (ATK 1700/DEF 300)**. On Julia's field is armadillo with citrine gemstones and two tank thrusters on the shell.

"Now, Gem-Armadillo's special effect activates," Julia explained. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one Gem-Knight from my deck to my hand!" The citrine armadillo glows brightly as Julia takes **Gem-Knight Lazuli**.

"Now, I activate Gem-Knight Fusion that is in my graveyard!" Julia stated. "I can banish one 'Gem-Knight' monster that is in my graveyard to add Gem-Knight Fusion to my hand!" Julia raises her hand. "I banish my Gem-Knight Crystal from my graveyard to get back my Gem-Knight Fusion!" Julia banishes her **Gem-Knight Crystal** from her graveyard to get **Gem-Knight Fusion** Spell Card to her hand.

"But don't forget," Yasuko pointed out. "Since you've banished one Gem-Knight from your graveyard, you've weakened Master Diamond."

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 3300** → **3200)**

"That's fine by me as long as I can use Gem-Knight Fusion to fuse Gem-Knight Lazuli and Gem-Knight Lapis!" Julia takes out her two more monsters that were in her hand: **Gem-Knight Lazuli** and **Gem-Knight Lapis**. "I fuse my Gem-Knight Lazuli and Lapis!"

In the swirling whirlpool of red and blue, a child-like lazuli and lapis appear in the vortex. They joined hands to unite together as the whirlpool swallows them.

 _"The blue and green stones that hides a mysterious power. Now, become light, come and appear! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _! Level 5! Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!"_ Julia chanted before she Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli (ATK 2400/DEF 1000)**. Out of the vortex is a monster that is like a priestess with a blue, purple exoskeleton that had a sapphire gem at the center of her chest.

"And now that Lazuli and Lapis are both in my graveyard, Master Diamond gets 200 ATK points," she added as the master diamond glows in a yellow aura.

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 3200** → **3400)**

"Now, I activate Gem-Knight Lady Lazuli's special effect!" Julia declared. "Once per turn, I can send one monster with the same name as this card from my Extra Deck to the graveyard to inflict damage to your life points equal to half of this monster's ATK points plus 100 for every monster that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck!" Julia's Extra Deck slot pops out one copy of **Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli** , and Julia sends it to the graveyard.

"I send my first Lady Lapis Lazuli to the graveyard to inflict 1200 points of damage, and since I have Gem-Knight Master Diamond and Lady Lapis Lazuli on the field, that's an extra 100 points, so you take 1400 points of damage to your life points!" Julia exclaimed.

The lady lapis priestess opens her palms forward and shoots a glowing blue orb to Yasuko to damage her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3000** → **1600)**

"I activate Gem-Knight Master Diamond's special effect!" Julia added. "Once per turn, I can banish one level 7 or lower Gem-Knight Fusion monster from my graveyard, and this monster becomes the same name and effect of the monster that I banished. Julia swings her arms to her master diamond knight as he stabs the ground to become the monster that Julia banished: **Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli**. "I banish my first Lady Lapis Lazuli to have Master Diamond become its name and effect!"

Yasuko was expecting Julia to do the similar effect that the master diamond knight had because she saw how Julia used her monster to beat Zuzu, so she planned a few steps ahead to make her stand. "I flip up my Trap Card! Fiendish Chain!" Yasuko activates her first face-down Trap Card: **Fiendish Chain**. From the trap card, olive chains sprout out of the card and wrap itself tightly around the master diamond knight as it grunts in pain.

Julia looks at her monster in shock. "What the—?!"

"Fiendish Chain targets one Effect monster on the field and negates the effect of the monster that I targeted," Yasuko explained. "This trap card also prevents your monster from attacking or use its effect as long as this card remains on the field."

Julia turns back to glare at the girl. "Why you…" she growled. "Fine! Even if I don't have my Master Diamond, I can still attack with my Lady Lapis Lazuli!" She raises her arm at Yasuko's paladin. "Battle! Lady Lapis Lazuli, attack Paladin of Felgrand with Sapphire Shot!"

The lapis priestess brings up both arms in the front and fires a big sapphire orb at the paladin, destroying it in the process along with the grotesque dragon to damage Yasuko's life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1600** → **900)**

"Supply Squad's effect activates!" Yasuko declared. "Once per turn, since you destroyed one of my monsters, I get to draw a card!" Yasuko draws a card due to her Spell Card's effect.

Julia didn't care much as Yasuko's life points get lower due to her assault. "That won't help you on my next turn, girl. I end my turn." Julia ends her turn.

 **Turn 6: Yasuko (1x card)**

"Face it. You're hanging in by a fragile thread there," Julia teased. "Now you see the differences in our strength. You may have Synchro and Pendulum Summon on your side, but you've never faced someone from the LDS who can Fusion Summon." Her eyes squint slightly. "And something tells me you're not even doing this duel to the fullest."

Yasuko turns up to scowl at the girl. "Why should I care? Of course, I'm not using my deck to the fullest because of that ego of yours."

Julia finds her comment to be an insult to her nature. "What was that!" she exclaimed.

"You're blinding yourself by your own pride thinking that you can beat me with just Fusion monsters. Not to mention that I don't know anything about that masked stranger you saw whenever. That's what this duel was about, wasn't it?" Yasuko continues to speak to Julia. "If you weren't so blind, then maybe you should've seen what happens in the outcome."

Julia scowls at her. "You're forgetting I'm the one who is beating you," she pointed out. "I've already got you right where I want you. I've got a monster that can destroy you with a simple slash of the ax. What will you do?"

"You don't get to decide whether or not I would lose, that decision only lies to my own," Yasuko draws a card from her deck. "It's my turn!"

She takes a peek at the card, and it was the Spell card that could change the tide of the duel. "I activate Destrudo the Lost Dragon's Frisson's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "If this card is in my hand or graveyard, I can pay half of my life points and target one level 6 or below monster I control on the field, and Special Summon it by reducing its level to the level of the monster I targeted," said Yasuko. "I target my level 6 Krystal Dragon to Special Summon the Tuner monster: Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson!" Yasuko Special Summons **Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson (ATK 1000/DEF 3000)**. Once again, the grotesque demon dragon arrives back on the field with its level becoming one.

 **(Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson: Level 7** → **1)**

As for the price of summoning the grotesque dragon, Yasuko is getting static electricity all over her body.

 **(Yasuko: LP 900** → **450)**

Julia flinches back in shock. "A Tuner Monster?"

Yasuko narrows at her opponent. "Now I tune my level 1 Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson with my level 6 Krystal Dragon!" The two dragons fly up with the grotesque one turning into a single green ring. It scans the crystal dragon until six white orbs illuminate before it shoots out a bright light.

" _Dragon of fire! Come to the earth and blast away all of my enemies who stand before you! I_ _ **Synchro Summon**_ _!"_ Yasuko chanted as the rings shoot a bright beam _. "Rage on, Level 7! Exploder Dragonwing!"_ Yasuko Synchro Summons **Exploder Dragonwing (ATK 2400/DEF 1600)**. From the bright light comes the dark back-deformed violet red dragon with red-orange wings and flappy scales, and forearms and calves that are two times bigger than the limbs with sharp claws and orange tail.

Julia is getting anxious about her opponent, but regardless, the deformed dragon isn't strong enough to beat her monster. "So what if you can Synchro Summon, that doesn't mean that its strong enough to beat my Master Diamond," she pointed out. "You're gonna have to do something even better. And even if you try to destroy my Lady Lapis Lazuli with its special effect of yours, I'll still survive."

"I wasn't done yet," Yasuko suddenly called.

"What?" Julia inquired.

Yasuko flips up her last face-down Continuous Trap Card: **Call of the Haunted**. "I activate my Trap Card, Call of the Haunted!" Yasuko declared. "This card lets me Special Summon one monster from my graveyard in Attack Position, and I choose to bring back Paladin of Felgrand!" By using her trap card, Yasuko Special Simmons **Paladin of Felgrand** as the card opens a portal and the paladin knight jumps out.

Julia raises an eyebrow. "What are you plan on doing?" she asked.

"I'll show you what I'm planning," Yasuko answered.

Taking out one card, Yasuko plays her Spell Card: **Fusion Substitute**. "I play the Spell Card! Fusion Substitute!" she exclaimed. "This card fuses two monsters that I control as Fusion Materials to Fusion Summon one monster from my Extra Deck!"

Julia is taking the information very hard. She is baffling her mind over Yasuko using her Synchro monster as a Fusion Material. "You're using your Synchro monster to Fusion Summon?!" she gasped in shock.

Yasuko's eyes never waver as her low pigtails fly around the back of her head. "Every card that I have in my Extra Deck supports each other, Julia!" she shouted before raising her hand. "I fuse my Exploder Dragonwing and Paladin of Felgrand on my field and fuse them together!" The deformed dragon and the paladin knight join forces as the monsters combine to form the ultimate beast.

" _Force of the dragon, soul of the warrior! Merge together! Unite and become the entity of all dragons and man! Take up arms and be ready to fight as one! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _!"_ Yasuko chanted. " _Rise! Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste!"_ Yasuko Fusion Summons **Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste (ATK 3200/DEF 2000)**. From the white and blue swirling vortex is a draco-equiste with magenta scale skin and an armored tail wearing blue armor while wielding a giant lance.

Julia cannot believe her eyes. She thought that the girl only knows how to use Synchro and Pendulum Summon. She didn't realize that Yasuko is capable of Fusion Summon and she is using a Synchro monster as a Fusion Material. "No way," Julia panicked. "You…You can do a Fusion Summon?"

Yasuko's eyes narrow at Julia with a firm resolve to win. "There are a lot of things you don't know about me, and here's one," she said before pointing at Julia's master diamond knight. "Let's battle!" Yasuko declared. "Dragon Knight Dragon-Equiste, attack Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"

Julia reels back in shock that the girl is going to attack her monster with the monster that has equal points. "Are you crazy?!" she accused. "My monster has higher ATK points!"

Yasuko takes out a card, and she activates her Quick-Play Spell Card: **Battle Fusion**. "Not unless I have something like this! I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Battle Fusion!" she announced. "When a monster I battled with is a Fusion Monster, this card gives my monster the ATK points equal to your monster's until the end of the Damage Step!" The spell card zaps blue lightning to the master diamond before it whizzes back to the draco-equiste. The lance glows blue around the edges because of boost.

 **(Dragon-Knight Draco-Equiste: ATK 3200** → **6600)**

Julia's eyes widened in shock after seeing how much stronger Yasuko's monster is compared to her own. "6600 ATK points!?" she uttered. The jewel girl grew paler when Yasuko had her checkmate. "It can't be…" she uttered.

The draco-equiste monster flies up high in the air before it swoops down like a dive bomber to strike the master diamond. Her eyes widen in terror, sealing her fate of the duel and the outcome. As soon as the monster pierces is lance right at the center of the master diamond's armored chest—

 _BOOM!_

"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" Julia screamed as she is flying back from the blast by Yasuko's draco-equiste, ending her life points.

 **(Julia: 2900** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The smoke billows around the area in front of Yasuko. The scene is covered in thick smog before it slowly dispersed. When it does, so did the draco-equiste. It gives a victory cry as it disappears right when the smoke cleared.

Yasuko saw Julia lying on the ground before she grunted to get back up. "I can't believe it…" Julia growled in anger. She then turns her head up to glare at Yasuko. "I can't believe it. You know Fusion Summon?" she questioned. "Back at the You-Show, you didn't even do that until now, and you've beaten me with just one Fusion monster alone."

Yasuko didn't seem to be scowling. She was looking down at Julia with a less hated expression. "I don't have to rely just on Fusion monsters; I could've beaten you without Fusion or any Extra Deck, but I want to see how much you can vent out," said Yasuko. "This is only a portion of my deck. And for the record, I have _no_ business with that masked man you spoke of."

Julia's glare softened as she stands herself back up. "How can you be sure?" she asked.

"Do you think I even know the people around this place?" Yasuko questioned. "I moved here like a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still having a hard time adjusting to this city's customs." Her face remains deadpan as she continued, "That is all I have to say, Julia Kotsu. I don't know anything else about who that masked stranger is. I just assume that it was the same one that you probably saw."

Julia's face grew softer as Yasuko convinced her that she has no knowledge of the masked stranger. "And you don't know anything else about that guy?" she asked.

"Hell no," Yasuko replied. "Now if you're satisfied with your answers, I'm done."

And with that, Yasuko grabs her gym bag and walks away from the area, leaving Julia stranded alone in the middle of the docks. Julia watches the cynical girl departs from her. After the duel, Julia was convinced that the girl is more mysterious than she thought. She has beaten Declan Akaba and saw her Fusion Summon by using only her Synchro monster. There are a lot of things that surround the girl more than ever.

* * *

 **Thank you so much for making this story get up to 10,000 views to all the readers and visitors who took their moment to let me get this far. Anyways, now things are about getting very interesting as it goes on. I'm going to enjoy making this one hell of a first section. Thank you, people, for giving a moment to read or in many cases, scan through the chapter. Don't forget to give some comments, reviews, and support the story. Stay tuned, and you all have a lovely day.**


	18. Chapter 18: Xyz Assassin

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the regular OC character.** **This story is not for advertisement or profits; it is only for the sole purpose of entertainment.**

* * *

 _Chapter 18: Xyz Assassin; Yasuko Yukihana vs the Unknown Duelist_

* * *

After Yasuko's confrontation duel with Julia Kotsu, it was concerning her. Yasuko hopes to stay low and avoid confrontations in Maiami City, but when Julia challenged her to a duel, it was clear to her that she needs to re-adjust her deck to maintain her shadow.

If word gets out that Yasuko has Pendulum cards, then many people will be begging her to teach them or have them. She doesn't want that to happen. The only ones who knew about her having Pendulum cards are everyone in You-Show, the three Extra Deck Leo Institute students, the Akaba's, and, of course, Yuya's mom. Diana is also aware of her having Pendulums when she saw her dueling Yuya, and Yasuko can trust her to honor her secret.

By separating the Pendulum monsters and Pendulum based cards, Yasuko stores them in a small box for safekeeping. As much as she regrets putting her Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon away, she isn't willing to expose her new Pendulum monsters until the right moment in time.

Yasuko stares down at the small box containing the Pendulum cards from her deck. Her face doesn't explain it, but she could be harboring a small bit of sadness to see a beautiful card like Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon to be sealed away because of the attention Yuya's Pendulum cards are getting.

"Sorry, Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, but I can't use you for a little while now," Yasuko bemoaned. Slowly, she closes the box and leaves it aside on the desk so that she can start on reorganizing her own deck. Now it's all plain old monsters, traps, and spell cards. No special Pendulum cards. After she reorganized her deck, she starts to work on her homework. She hadn't forgotten about actual school work.

Her pendant keychain sits on top of the small box where her Pendulum cards are stored. Yasuko didn't want to think about it when she saw it glowing and blinking on and off. She thought that the crystal keychain was just her lucky charm; she didn't expect it to be glowing off at random. She recalls back to when she was dueling Declan. When she felt a strange pulse, it was a rare phenomenon that she somehow got Pendulum cards when Yuya was the first person to have ones.

She pauses herself doing homework and looks over to her small box. The crystal pendant on her keychain seems to bling only once from the light reflecting by the window. She can't even recall how long it's been since she has the thing. It's been so long that she doesn't even remember how she got it. Where did it come from? Why does she still have it?

Aside from the glowing keychain and the Pendulum cards, there is a lot of strange things that were happening in the city when Yasuko arrived here. First, she heard news about some incident that happened with the Leo Institute professor; Marco, then there was the masked stranger or the Yuya doppelgänger, and lastly, the giant claw mark on the wall she saw from the construction site where the professor was attacked.

Yasuko reaches in the pocket of her black jacket vest for the pin that she found. She remembers how the guard from the construction site had one on his collar. Yabia said that those who wear the LDS pin are members of the elite that the Leo Corporation has chosen.

So many questions; yet, not enough answers. Yasuko closes her notebook, grabs her duel disk holster, and walk out of her room with her Pendulum cards left behind in the box.

She walks downstairs as she loops her holster around her right leg where Diana is already working in the back of the garden. Can't wait until curfew for dinner, Yasuko gets her gym bag and a plastic box for her usual day snacks. She comes outside in the backyard. Diana's garden has three rows divided into six columns. The sprinkler pipes on top of the fruits and plants drip on after being used for some time. The first three columns are the fruits, and the rest of the columns are vegetables. Yasuko is impressed by how Diana was able to grow them in the back of her small house.

Diana seems to be handling with collecting the fresh vegetables in one basket while dumping the rotting ones on the other.

"Diana," Yasuko called. "I'm heading out."

The woman dumps a fresh one before looking up to her. "Oh, already?" she inquired.

"I've got something to take care of for school," Yasuko excused. "I know there's homework, but I have until Monday to finish off the rest."

Diana sighed and props herself back to give her back a stretch. "Lately, you've been out ever since you dueled Yuya Sakaki, did something happen?" she wondered.

Yasuko flinched before turning her head to pick one of the fresh apples. "Actually, I've been focusing my techniques. I mean, we both know that I can now Pendulum Summon, right?" She gestured her hand holding the apple.

"Right," Diana agreed.

"I was thinking that it's best not to reveal that I have the Pendulum cards now," said Yasuko.

"Why not? I think it'll be alright if you just show someone you have them," Diana bends forward to continue her stretching.

"That's the thing, Diana," Yasuko pointed out. She stuffs the apple to her plastic box and continues to collect more of the fruits as she explains a problem that she cannot have. "About yesterday, I dueled a Leo Institute Fusion girl named Julia Kotsu, and I had to avoid using my Pendulum cards because I don't want anyone else to know that I have Pendulum cards. I mean, the _whole_ city saw Yuya dueling against the Sledgehammer with his Pendulum Cards."

Diana puts a thought about how famous the duel was in Maiami City. It was clear that tons of people watched it from the stadium or their homes. They were very excited about the new Pendulum cards. "Now that you've mentioned it, the match did receive over 700,000 views for that one," she said.

"And that's exactly the problem," Yasuko proclaimed. "I don't want tons of people watching my duels; I prefer to duel somewhere far from the crowd and less than ten people."

Diana finishes her stretches and resumes her weekend routine of picking up the vegetables. "By the way, Chloe sends you a postcard," she mentioned.

"Where was it this time?" Yasuko asked.

"From the jungles of Tasmania," said Diana.

"No surprise," Yasuko deadpanned. "It's not going to be long before she comes home." She picks off an orange from the tree.

"I told your mother, that you've joined the You-Show," Diana informed. "Apparently, she sounds happy for you to be a part of a dueling organization."

Yasuko closes the lid and puts away the box into her gym bag. "Did she?" she asked. "Well, I think she was alright with it." With everything set for today, Yasuko heads back through the door. "I'm heading out okay. I'll be back before 7."

Diana gives a waving good-bye. "Okay, be sure to be on time, alright?"

Without looking back, Yasuko waves back to Diana. "Yo."

* * *

Yasuko walks around the Maiami City for some exploring places that she can familiarize herself with. The city landscape was too big for her to even do anything with the You-Show classes. She gives the teacher some credit for trying though. There are so many things to do in the city, but right now, she needs a long walk to think about the recent events that were occurring when she arrived.

She ponders the things that she's experienced and piece together the weirdness that is happening. She depicts the fact that Yuya's doppelgänger, the masked stranger with black hair and lavender highlights, is the main culprit for his appearance where Sylvio was attacked. He described Yuya as the culprit because they look exactly alike. She thought it was Yuya at first.

Then comes the assault. The teacher was attacked around the time when she and Declan dueled. She assumed that it was the Yuya doppelgänger stranger that attacked the teacher. The strangest thing that was left at the scene were giant claw markings that were scratched all over the wall. Leo Corporation private security sealed the area.

The only clue that could lead her was the LDS pin that she found. She was staring down at the LDS pin. Yasuko is thinking about many possibilities of how the culprit was attacking. The Yuya doppelgänger attacks Sylvio out of blue, but he was only hospitalized. Marco, on the other hand, disappeared without a trace. It is as if there is someone else doing the dirty work.

"What does all of this mean?" Yasuko wondered.

As she turns around the corner of a small alleyway, Yasuko stops at her tracks. She saw a stranger standing alone in the middle of the alleyway. She seems curious about who the stranger was.

"Huh?" she uttered.

The stranger has straight blue-black hair that falls to his chin and light green bangs. He is wearing some battered blue trench coat that is tattered at the bottom. The coat is belted shut and adorns with belted cuffs. He also sports black grey pants and brown leather shoes.

The stranger turns his head around noticing Yasuko's presence. Yasuko saw how he is wearing a mask over his head. A red scarf was kept over his face concealed behind the dark goggles.

"Uh…hello…" Yasuko said slowly. "You need anything?"

The stranger didn't reply to her question. His gaze was focusing on the LDS pin that was in her fingers. When he spots the pin, he turns his body around fully. "An LDS? Leo Institute?" the stranger inquired. "Now there's a surprise."

Yasuko blinks once in confusion before looking down at the pin she was holding. "Oh, this? I found it," she said.

The stranger didn't seem to comprehend her answer. "Meaning you're one of them," he retorted. His arm was snap up revealing a duel disk. His disk emits a glowing blue blade giving him a challenging pose. "You're from the Leo Corporation."

Yasuko can't believe that she had to be in the wrong place at the wrong time; this time, she gets involved in another duel. "Geez, can't I get a break for once?" she murmured to herself. "Listen bub, I have no quarrel with the Leo Corporation or the Institute. I just happen to find this pin, now if you excuse me, I have other places to be." Yasuko didn't want to engage the stranger and turns her body around to walk the other way. Before she could take a step, a fast whoosh of wind rolls behind her neck.

Yasuko felt her left hand was given a tucked. "Ah!" she gasped.

She turns around to see that the stranger happens to have some long red cord connecting her left wrist. "What the hell?!" Yasuko tries to move the cord out of her left wrist, but it was stuck to her hand like glue. She grunted to pull the thing out to no avail.

"What the frig are you doing?!" Yasuko exclaimed. "What is this stuff!?" she demanded with anger rising in her voice.

"This is a dueling capable technique my sensei developed," the stranger revealed. "If one of your enemies tries to run or flee from a duel, then this is the best way to snare them in."

Yasuko grunts as she makes various efforts to remove the cord attaching to her left wrist. "Well, your sensei is an asshole!" she shouted. "What gives you the right to just trap someone with a core like this?!"

The stranger didn't apprehend to her demands. "As long as I can beat my enemies, then I can," he answered.

Yasuko gives up trying to remove the cord that was stuck to her wrist. She figures that dueling the stranger is the only way to convince the guy to let her go. "Son of a bitch, I can't believe I got myself dragging into this shit," she muttered. "Fine! We're dueling, but if I win, you break this stupid chain!" She lifts her wrist to show him the deal.

"If you can beat me, that is," the stranger dared.

Yasuko throws her gym bag aside from the alley and brings her green duel disk out. Attaching it to her wrist, the blue blade glows out of the disk. "You better regret trapping me with this cord of yours," Yasuko growled. "Cuz I'm going to kick your ass right after we're finished!"

 **DUEL:**

 **Unknown Duelist (LP: 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP: 4000)**

" _ **DUEL**_!" The stranger and Yasuko shouted together to start their duel.

Both duelists draw five cards from their deck with one motion. Yasuko looks down at her hand.

 **Turn 1: Yasuko (5x cards)**

"I'll go first, asshole!" Yasuko declared. She takes out one card from her hand. "I summon Paladin of Felgrand!" Yasuko Normal Summons her **Paladin of Felgrand (ATK 1700/DEF 300)** from her hand. On her field, a blond young man in blue shiny armor with white cape jumps out of the portal from the ground and swings his sword in front.

"I activate Paladin of Felgrand's special effect! If this card is Normal Summoned, I can equip it with one Level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my hand or deck to this card!" Yasuko takes out a card from her deck and shows to the duelist that she picks **Arkbrave Dragon**. "And I equip Paladin with Arkbrave Dragon!" From the second portal, Yasuko's golden white dragon emerges and the paladin hops on top of its back as the dragon gives a roar that rattles the fences on her right.

"Now I set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Yasuko concluded as she Sets two cards.

 **Turn 2: Unknown Duelist (5x cards)**

"My turn now! I draw!" The unknown duelist draws a card from his deck. He checks his hand on what he has drawn. Taking out one card, the unknown duelist places it on his disk.

"I summon Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius!" The unknown Duelist Normal Summons **Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius (ATK 1300/DEF 1600)**. On his side of the field, out of the portal comes out a green mechanical winged-beast lanius monster that has various weapons from the wings that are thrusters.

Yasuko sees a monster she never heard of before. The thought of the monster makes her raises an eyebrow. "Raidraptor?" she inquired.

"I activate Vanishing Lanius' special effect!" said the Unknown Duelist. "When this card is Summoned this turn, I can Special Summon one more Vanishing Lanius from my hand!" As per-instructed, the unknown duelist Special Summons a second **Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius (ATK 1300/DEF 1600)**.

"I activate Raidraptor - Fuzzy Lanius' effect from my hand!" The unknown duelist added. "If I control a 'Raidraptor - Vanishing Lanius' monster on the field, I can Special Summon it onto the field!" On his field is **Raidraptor – Fuzzy Lanius (ATK 500/DEF 1500)** , a purple mechanical lanius with thrusters on its wings, in Defense Position. The monster gives a bird screech as it floats beside the Unknown Duelist.

"Some formation," Yasuko commented. "Got anything special about those things?" she wondered, but the duelist didn't answer her question. He just cuts to the chase of his next turn.

"I set a card face-down, and end my turn," the duelist concluded as he Sets a card on the field.

 **Turn 3: Yasuko (1x card)**

It's Yasuko's turn, but she didn't draw a card yet. She is studying his layout. His field setup is perfectly conditioned for both defense and offense. It would seem that Yasuko is not dueling someone from a duel school; he's an expert. " _And here I thought I'd never be facing someone who's not from the Leo Institute,"_ she thought. _"Still, I can't get careless with this guy. He's serious about this duel._ "

Hoping to talk it out with the guy, Yasuko speaks up. "Got a lot of nerve tying up me to be doing this," she said. "What's your game?"

Like before, the stranger didn't answer her question. Yasuko finds it a lot easier for her to get to the chase. "Right, you're not much of a talker, I prefer that." Yasuko draws a card from her deck. "I draw!" Yasuko takes a look at the monster before she makes her move.

"I summon Dragon Knight of Creation!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Dragon Knight of Creation (ATK 1800/DEF 600)**. On her field is a red-haired warrior wearing a gold incomplete armor with its gold knight helmet while wielding a sword in his hand.

"Battle!" Yasuko declared. "Dragon Knight of Creation, attack Vanishing Lanius!" The creation knight brings up his sword and leaps in the air to slash the first green mechanical lanius, screeching after getting hit.

 **(Unknown Duelist: LP 4000** → **3500)**

"Paladin of Felgrand, attack his second Vanishing Lanius!" The paladin knight commands his dragon to ride down at the purple mechanical lanius. The dragon swoops down and destroys the second green lanius.

 **(Unknown Duelist: LP 3500** → **3100)**

"Dragon Knight of Creation's special effect activates!" Yasuko stated. "When this card destroys a monster in battle, I can send one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my deck to the graveyard!" Yasuko sends her **White Night Dragon** to her graveyard."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the goggles on his face. "What's the big deal about trapping me in this red rope of yours? You think it's alright to just snatch random people like that and get away with it?" As always, the stranger didn't heed to her question.

"I end my turn," she concluded.

 **Turn 4: Unknown Duelist (2x cards)**

"It's my turn!" The Unknown Duelist draws a card from his deck. "I draw!"

Behind the goggles, the Unknown Duelist seems to be looking at the card that he drew, and it was one of the lucky ones. "I summon Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius!" The Unknown Duelist places his monster: **Raidraptor Napalm Dragonius (ATK 1000/DEF 1000)** , on his blade to Normal Summon it.

From there, a white armored mechanical bird flies out of the hole form the ground before landing next to the Fuzzy Lanius. Unlike its peers, the dragonius has the upper body of the bird and the lower body of a snake.

"I activate Napalm Dragonius' special effect!" the stranger declared. "Once per turn, this card can inflict 600 points of damage as long as this card remains on the field, so get ready to feel the burn!" The white bird snake monster opens its mouth and unleashes a powerful flamethrower beam straight for Yasuko.

She brings her arms up as the flamethrower torches around her, causing a massive explosion. For some reason, she can already feel its burn from the flames despite being holograms. She grunts as she endures damage.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3400)**

The heat from the blast feels like she was touching fire. She looks down at her hand where she can feel the burning sensation in her arms. _"What the—?!"_ she mentally thought. " _I…I felt that?"_ She looks at her opponent. " _What the hell was that?! It was almost like it was real fire!"_

The Unknown Duelist takes out one card from his hand and activates the Spell Card: **Raidraptor – Call**. "I activate this Spell, Raidraptor Call!" he declared. "Why settle for one Napalm Dragonius while I can just Special Summon one from my deck?" He raises his hand in front of him. "This Spell enables me to target one 'Raidraptor' monster that I control, and I get to Special Summon one 'Raidraptor' monster that has the same name as the monster that is on the field from my hand or deck! So I Special Summon my second Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius!" Thanks to his spell card, the Unknown Duelist was able to Special Summon a second **Raidraptor Napalm Dragonius (ATK 1000/DEF 1000)** in Defense Position. A portal opens on the ground and a second white dragonius bird-snake mechanical monster appears on the field.

"I activate Napalm Dragonius' special effect! Once per turn, this card can inflict 600 points of damage as long as this card remains on the field!" Like with the first dragonius, the mechanical bird snake opens its mouth and blasts a flamethrower beam for Yasuko to deal damage to her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3400** → **2800)**

Yasuko grist her teeth hard, forcing herself to endure the second flame attack. _"Damn it,"_ she screamed in her mind. " _This asshole is starting to piss me off!"_ After the effect damage, Yasuko recovers with steam emitting from her body.

The Unknown Duelist pulls another card from his hand and activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Raidraptor – Nest**. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Raidraptor – Nest!" said the Unknown Duelist. "If I control two or more 'Raidraptor' monsters on the field, I can add one more 'Raidraptor' monster from my deck or graveyard to my hand!" His deck ejects one card and he takes it out a third **Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius**. "I add my third Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius!"

Yasuko pants after taking the effect damage. Her body is steaming out because of the effect damage. It was clear to Yasuko that her opponent is unlike any other. She is starting to get anxious when she sees three monsters on the duelist's field.

"Three monsters already?" Yasuko inquired "Why don't have a sudden feeling that I am not liking this?" she asked.

"You won't," said the Unknown Duelist. "I end my turn!"

 **Turn 5: Yasuko (1x card)**

"It's my move then, I draw!" Yasuko draws her card from her deck.

"And now my Napalm Dragonius can activate their special effect!" the stranger declared. "Once per turn, I can deal 600 points of damage to you! And since I have two Napalm Dragonius, that means they get to deal 1200!" The two mechanical bird snakes open its mouths and fires two powerful flamethrowers at Yasuko. She flinches and holds her arms in front of her as she grits her teeth, feeling the burning hot flames around her again.

 **(Yasuko: LP 2800** → **1600)**

She can feel her body starting to give after taking the damage. It was very strange. The holograms weren't supposed to make any duelist feel damage unless they are in the ARC system. Everything in the duel seems all too real.

" _Damn it,"_ she thought hatefully. " _As long as those monster_ s _in on the_ _field, I get hit with every 600 points of damage, not to mention that he has all three Level 4 monsters."_ Now that she thinks of it, Yasuko did realize that all of his monsters are level 4. She ponders the possibility of him doing an Extra Deck. " _Wait a minute? Three Level 4 monsters? Is he aiming for an Xyz Summon?"_ she thought the only possibility of her opponent doing an Xyz Summon in the future. She studies his layout the moment that he duels her. Yasuko looks down at her hand and finds it perfect to end the match. " _Alright, it's now or never."_

Yasuko looks down at the monster card and raises her hand to the creation knight. "I activate Dragon Knight of Creation's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "By sending one card from my hand to the graveyard, I can tribute this monster to Special Summon one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster that is in my graveyard!" Yasuko discards her **Darkblaze Dragon** and raises her hand to the front. "I send my Dragon Knight of Creation to the graveyard to Special Summon White Night Dragon!" The creation knight disappears, allowing Yasuko to Special Summons **White Night Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)** , the mighty ice dragon on the field.

Yasuko takes out one card and plays the Spell Card: **Return of the Dragon Lords**. "I activate the Spell, Return of the Dragon Lords!" Yasuko declared. "This card lets me Special Summon one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster that is in my graveyard! And I Special Summon my Darkblaze Dragon!" The paladin and the dragon statute token vanish from the field. The spell card opens up a portal and Special Summons **Darkblaze Dragon (ATK 1200/DEF 1000)** , the black armored orange scaled dragon emerges from it, roaring to life. "And now Darkblaze Dragon's special effect activates, when it's Special Summoned from the graveyard, it's ATK and DEF points are doubled!" The dark dragon glows orange because of its special effect.

 **(Darkblaze Dragon: ATK 1200** **/DEF 1000** → **ATK 2400/DEF** **2000)**

"Battle!" Yasuko declared. "I attack Napalm Dragonius with White Night Dragon!" The ice dragon monster opens its jaws. Yasuko aims her finger at the purple mechanical lanius. "Dragon Ice Storm!" she exclaimed.

The ice dragon fires a powerful ice blizzard straight at the mechanical bird snake. "I flip up my Trap Card!" The stranger suddenly declared. "Adversity!" The stranger plays the Trap Card, **Adversity**. "If a monster I control is targeted for an attack, and if it has less ATK points than the attacking monster, it cannot be destroyed this battle!" A forcefield pops up and surrounds the first dragonius monster to block the beam.

"But you still take damage!" Yasuko pointed out.

"No, I won't," the Unknown Duelist argued. "With this card, I don't take any battle damage and it gives my Napalm Dragonius additional 1000 ATK points." The white mechanical dragonius monster glows blue in response to the trap card that the unknown duelist used.

 **(Raidraptor Napalm Dragonius: ATK 1000** → **2000)**

Yasuko is getting more furious with the opponent. "Are you friggin' kidding me?" she retorted. "Fine! Then my Paladin of Felgrand will attack your second Napalm Dragonius!" The paladin knight riding her white ark dragon flies down and slash the dragonius in half, dealing damage to the Unknown Duelist.

 **(Unknown Duelist: LP 3100** → **2400)**

"Thanks for that, now I can activate my Napalm Dragonius' special effect!" The unknown duelist exclaimed, much to her surprise. "When this card is destroyed and send to the graveyard, I can Special Summon one 'Raidraptor' from my deck!" His deck ejects one card and the unknown duelist takes it to Special Summon his third and last copy of his **Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius (ATK 1300/DEF 1600)** in Defense Position. The green mechanical lanius appears on the field, much to Yasuko's annoyance.

Yasuko is feeling more ticked than ever as the duel goes on. No matter how many times she's throwing at him, the young man refuses to give up like he is a rebel. "Seriously, how many copies does this guy have?" she muttered. "Darkblaze Dragon, attack Vanishing Lanius!" The blazing dark dragon blows an orange beam at the green lanius, obliterating it.

"Darkblaze Dragon's special effect activates!" Yasuko called. "When this card destroys a monster and sends it to the graveyard, you take damage equal to its ATK points!" The blazing dark dragon blows a second orange beam to damage the unknown duelist even further.

 **(Unknown Duelist: LP 2400** → **1100)**

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the duelist. "You are so persistence, aren't you?" she asked. "I end my turn."

 **Turn 6: Unknown Duelist (1x card)**

"Now it's my turn, I draw!" the unknown duelist draws one card from his deck. "It's high time to end this, you LDS scum." He takes out his third **Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius (ATK 1000/DEF 1000)** and Normal Summons it. "I Summon Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius!" Yasuko is seeing more copies of the duelist's monster because she had seen about three of the white mechanical bird with a lower snake body. "Napalm Dragonius' effect activates!"

Like before, the two dragonius monsters open their mouth and shot two flamethrower beams at Yasuko, damaging her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1600** → **10** **00)**

Yasuko is feeling more pain than her time with Yuya. The force of taking multiple effect damage is tolling her body. She is getting so exhausted that she ends up on her knees. Her lungs pant heavy breaths in and out like she is working out. Sweat starts to drop from her forehead.

"Friggin damn it," Yasuko growled angrily. "How many times do I have to tell you right now; I am _not_ a part of the LDS, you scumbag! Didn't you listen to a single word I said?!"

The unknown duelist didn't say anything back to her. Yasuko is furious with the stranger. "What the hell's your problem with LDS?!" she questioned. "Why do you hate them so much?!" she interrogates him to talk at least a hint of why, but like before, he didn't reply.

The girl can only make a disgusted sound out of her mouth. "You're an asshole, you know that!"

The unknown duelist seems to be glowering at her behind his goggles. "How pathetic, you're not even worth my time." Finally, he replied to her statement.

"Worth your time?" Yasuko questioned. "You're the one who's wasting _my_ time after you snared me with this stupid red cable!" Her voice taints in anger for making the unknown duelist to force her to duel.

"You won't be able to," the unknown duelist replied.

Right on cue, someone enters the alleyway behind her. "Uh…Yasuko?" The girl can't believe that she catches the voice none other than Yuya Sakaki. She jerks her head back and sees the sweaty Yuya Sakaki panting in exhaustion. He looks as if he was running.

"Yuya?" Yasuko inquired. "What are you doing here?"

Before he could explain, a shout echoes from the other end of the alleyway. "Stop Sakaki!" Yuya hears this and runs away to get beside Yasuko. Then, from the end of the alleyway, three uniformed security guards show up. They all pause when they saw them.

Yasuko realizes that the three uniform security guards happen to be wearing a shiny "LDS" pins on their collars. From behind them, a very short, portly man wearing an orange double-breasted suit who has black hair, large eyebrows, and a mustache pops up from behind the security guards shows up.

"Uh, Yuya, what's going on?" Yasuko asked, glancing over to Yuya.

He looked at her. "How should I know?" Yuya inquired. "I was just trying to find my way to my next match when all the sudden, these three guys showed up and chase after me."

Yasuko half-turned her body to face him with a raised eyebrow. "What? You broke into a house and stole some the cash you still owe me?"

Yuya puffs out comedian steams out of his ears. "You still think I owe you that for not having breakfast the other day?!" he exclaimed. "But more importantly, Yasuko, why are you dueling, and who is this _guy_?" Yuya turns around and points at the masked stranger in front of Yasuko. Yasuko faces her opponent.

"For some reason, this guy snared me into some kind of cable, and I can't get out of it," she answered.

"What cable?" Yuya asked.

Yasuko raises her left wrist to show him that she is captured in some kind of red cable that she cannot remove. "This asshole caught me with this, and I can't break free unless I beat him in a duel," she explained.

The stranger notices the three LDS security guards by their pins on their collars. "More LDS thugs? Well, this is just my lucky day," the unknown duelist noted in satisfaction. "In that case, I'll take you all on!"

The short portly man saw Yasuko and the unknown duelist in front of him and the three security guards. "Look here, don't interfere!" the man exclaimed. "This is none of your business!"

The girl turns her head around to glare at the sort portly man, annoyed. "Hey, don't blame this on me, dumbass, he's the one who started it!" she retorted.

"Dumbass?!" the portly man gasped. "You should know, girl, that I am Furio Sawatari, the–"

"Not now!" Yasuko interrupted, focusing herself back to the duel.

One of the LDS security guards was suspicious about the unknown duelist in front of Yasuko before he realized who that unknown duelist was. "Is he the one?" he wondered. "He could be the guy we're after!"

The second guard verified the identity of the unknown duelist. "He's the one who attacked Herk and Marco? I thought he'd be smaller," he said.

The third security guard brings out his duel disk and starts dialing. "I better call headquarters for backup!" he affirmed.

"Forget about that guy and grab Yuya Sakaki!" Furio ordered.

"I Overlay my Napalm Dragonius, Vanishing Lanius, and Fuzzy Lanius in order to build the Overlay Network!" The unknown duelist interrupted, raises his hand in the air as the naplam dragonius, purple, and the green lanius transforms into three purple lights.

Yasuko was expecting him to make an Xyz Summon since he's got level 4 monsters on his field. "An Xyz Summon," she said.

The three guards are shocked to find out who the unknown duelist was when they saw him performing an Xyz Summon.

"There's no mistake!" said the first guard.

"He's the one who attacked Herk and Marco!" the second one gasped.

The lights rain down into the golden purple cosmos portal on the ground as the lights zip in the center before the portal explodes up in the bright light.

" _Obscured falcon! From the adversity, raise your sharpened claws! Rise and spread your wings of rebellion! I_ _ **Xyz Summon**_ _!_ _Appear! Rank 4! Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!"_ The unknown duelist chanted before Yasuko as he Xyz Summons **Raidraptor** – **Rise Falcon (ATK 100/DEF 2000)**. The bright blue light disappears as a massive purple mechanical falcon with thrusters as wings and six red optical eyes glowing brightly from its head. Its two sharpened claws spring open and three purple glowing Overlay Unit orbs floating around the monster. It screeches like a real falcon. Its appearance causes the winds to rapidly spin around the area like a typhoon.

Yasuko's hair whips around her cheeks wildly, forcing her to cover her face. She saw never thought that she would be facing another Xyz Summoner in the city. She didn't even know that there is any considering that the Leo Institute teaches such an advanced summon method.

"Oh crap," said Yasuko.

The Xyz Summon was so powerful that it's causing the spectators to take the blow. Yuya braces himself for the wind, but they were too powerful as he was blown away. He screamed as Yasuko turns to him. "Yuya!" she called as she watches him get smacked against one of the stone walls before collapsing on a pile of garbage bags.

The three security guards and Furio cover their faces as they endure the strong winds. Yasuko is still holding on because of the red cable that was attached to her wrist.

"I activate Rise Falcon's special effect!" The unknown duelist announced. "By using one Overlay Unit, Rise Falcon gains ATK points equal to the total of all Special Summoned monsters on your side of the field!"

 **(Raidraptor** – **Rise Falcon: Overlay Units 3** → **2)**

One of the Overlay Units from the purple mechanical falcon disperses as two of Yasuko's monsters illuminates in blue and orange lights. She watches in shock as the light was sucked in by the purple mechanical falcon, gaining the boost of her monster's attack points. The purple mechanical falcon roars into a flaming giant bird as it screeches loudly.

 **(Raidraptor** – **Rise Falcon: ATK 100 + 3000 + 2400 = 5500)**

Yasuko is shocked that an Xyz monster stole all of her monster's attack points and added them to its own. It's stronger than all of her dragons combined. "5500 ATK points!?" she gasped.

"And that's not all," the unknown duelist divulged. "It can attack all Special Summoned monsters at once! Since you're already special summoned those dragons, it gets to attack all of them!"

His revelation shocked Yasuko. "What?!" she gasped.

"Battle!" The unknown duelist aims his finger at Yasuko like a gun. "Raidraptor – Rise Falcon, attack White Night Dragon and Darkblaze Dragon!" Like a bird of prey, the purple mechanical falcon flies down fast to destroy her monsters. Yasuko looks down at her face-downs that are still on the field since the beginning of the duel.

" _If he starts attacking, I can't stop him!_ " she pondered. _"My Damage Diet won't be enough to stop it, but…"_ To end this match, there is still one more move that she can do, and it was a good thing that she still has the Trap card that is on her field. "To hell with this!" she retorted. "I activate the trap card! Bad Luck Blast!" Yasuko activates her face-down Trap Card: **Bad Luck Blast**.

"What?!" The unknown duelist gasped.

"This trap card lets me target one monster you control, and I take damage equal to half of its ATK points!" Yasuko explained. "And in return, you take the same amount of damage that I took this turn using this trap card!"

The trap card ejects a car size bomb in front of Yasuko. "And I choose your Raidraptor – Rise Falcon! So, we both take 2850 points of damage!" The unknown duelist was shocked to find that Yasuko is going for mutual destruction and he cannot stop her since she played her trap card. The purple mechanical falcon zips down and with one hit to the bomb–

 _KA-BOOM!_

The area around them is caught in a massive explosion that shook the earth. The rope from the unknown duelist and Yasuko disconnects as the damage exceeds all of their own life points due to Rise Falcon's attack points. Furio was already hanging onto a stair railing right after the purple mechanical falcon appeared on the field. He lost his grip from the huge explosion and was sent flying.

"NNNNAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGHHHH!" the Unknown Duelist screamed out of his lungs as he was flung back from the shockwaves, feeling the damage being dealt to him.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Yasuko shrieked as she was shot back by the blast force, sending her to the ground with a very painful thud that knocked her out unconscious.

 **(Unknown Duelist: LP 1100** → **0)**

 **(Yasuko: LP 1000** → **0)**

 **WINNER: DRAW**

* * *

Yasuko didn't know how long she's has been out cold, but it was uncomfortable to be laying in the ground. She groans as se gets herself back up. She looks all over the area around her. There were so many debris everywhere like they were blown around in a storm. She can feel her wrist burning.

"What the?" Yasuko removes her duel disk that was on her left arm and rolls up her sleeve to see what it was. She finds a large bruise around her wrist like they were gripped by something. She realizes how she got it. Yasuko stands back up and looks around for her supposed attacker.

There was no one else around her. Nobody. No LDS security guards. Not even that unknown duelist that she fought. She spots the unconscious Yuya at the pile of garbage. She holsters her duel disk and runs straight toward him.

"Yuya!" called Yasuko. She crouches down and holds his shoulders. "Hey, Yuya, you still alive?" The boy didn't respond. With short thinking, Yasuko raise her hand–

 _SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!_

"OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" Yuya grunted in multiple painful slaps every time Yasuko makes to his face. "HEY! STOP! STOP IT! STOP IT! I'M AWAKE!" he exclaimed to make Yasuko stop slapping him. "I'M AWAKE!" He rubs his redden cheeks as he can feel the stinging pain. "What are you doing, Yasuko?" he asked. "Why did you hit me like that?"

Yasuko looks around to finds out that there was no one around them. "I was just wondering if you're dead," she said.

Yuya then realize what happened before he was unconscious. "Wait a minute!" He shot up and turns his head back and forth for any signs of the unknown duelist or the LDS security guards that were chasing after him. "Yasuko! What happened!" he questioned. "Who was that guy you were dueling?"

Yasuko stands up and shrugs her shoulder. "How should I know?" she inquired. "That guy just suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked me out of the blue."

Yuya gets into her face. "But what about that Xyz monster," he pointed out. "You saw it, too, didn't you?! That behemoth that blew everyone away!"

Yasuko glances at the area around them. "I did; I was dueling that guy," she said. "But where are those other four guys?"

Yuya turns his head to the same way he came from the alleyway and finds no one around. It was just him and Yasuko alone in the alleyway. "But I did saw the Xyz monster," he said.

"Regardless of what we saw, nobody's gonna believe us if we told them the truth," Yasuko stated.

Yuya agrees with her. He knew that she saw the duelist who attacked her and didn't even give out a name or what not. He doesn't know what happened between her and that stranger duelist.

"By the way, where were you yesterday?" Yasuko asked.

"Huh?" Yuya inquired.

"Yesterday, where did you go?" Yasuko repeats her question.

"I was heading to the harbor because Zuzu is missing out on all our Duel classes, and speaking of classes, I think you should attend too," Yuya pointed out. "Mr. Hiiragi was concern that you haven't showed up since you left your application."

Yasuko did seem to forget that she is now attending You-Show and that there are other sessions for her to attend; otherwise, it'll be wasting her allowance. "Oh, I had a doctor note at that time, so I'll come by tomorrow at 3?" Yuya nodded.

"Ah! Yuya!" Yasuko and Yuya turns around and finds Nico Smiley approaching them. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you," he said. "I suppose you didn't forget about your second important match today, didn't you?" he questioned.

"Ah…" Yuya looks at Yasuko. "Of course, I have to go, I did pull an all-nighter for today's match."

Yasuko nodded. "I understand," she said. "Oh, and Yuya?" she called him to get his attention once more. "Can we talk tomorrow?" Yasuko requested. "There are things I want to discuss."

Yuya blinks in confusion. "Oh, uh…sure, I guess. Where?" he asked.

"First, we meet at the You-Show, and then we go to a ramen shop downtown, would you like that?" Yasuko suggested.

"Sure, I can," Yuya affirmed.

In response, Yasuko gives a firm nod from her head as Yuya and Nico break off to start heading over to his second match. As he walks further away and disappears behind the corner, Yasuko turns around to grab her gym bag.

"Still, what the hell was that?" Yasuko wondered. "His attacks are almost like they were real." She looks down at her wrist, remembering that she was caught by the duel anchor. "What was that?" she wondered.

Yasuko crouches down and picks up her gym bag. As she turns around, Yasuko suddenly halts at her footsteps. Her eyes widened as she saw what was on the highway bridge. There were two giant claw markings like the one that she saw back at the Kanime construction site. It looked almost identical to the one she saw on the walls.

She gasped. Yasuko didn't realize that her attacker's monster had done something that cannot be done through the ARC system alone. "W-what the hell?" she inquired.

With the giant bird claw markings on the highway bridge, it became clear to Yasuko that there may be not only the Yuya doppelgänger that she encountered, but there was also the unknown duelist who performed an Xyz Summon. "Just what the hell is going on around here?" she asked herself.

* * *

 **Not my favorite duel because of how restricted I used and little appearance the character was before the Arc League arc storyline. I make duels that are unrestricted. That way, it will make the story more exciting, but it's too early to assume the full potential just yet. I'm working on a rough draft to time everything in place. Don't worry, there will be more confrontations later on, just not this book. It's all about placing and timing the story plot for me.** **And I thought it would be fun to make it like it was an anime motion, but you all know who it is anyways. I just like to make it dramatic.**

 **I hoped you all enjoyed reading this story so far. Don't forget to leave down some comments and thoughts of what you think so far as the chapters goes on. I hoped you all readers have been having a good week because I am. Stay tuned for more updates and have an awesome day!**


	19. Chapter 19: Yasuko's Apprentice

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.** **This story is not for advertising or profits; it is only for the sole purpose of entertainment.**

* * *

 _Chapter 19: Yasuko's Apprentice_

* * *

In the testing room, somewhere in the Leo Corporation headquarters, Declan Akaba is currently working on perfecting the Pendulum cards that he and his company have been trying to recreate. Based on the data from Yuya's first Pendulum Summon, they attempted to match the same energy levels that Yuya did in his Pendulum Summon. It's taking a lot of resources and money to recreate the Pendulum cards.

Declan stands in the testing room with his duel disk activated and cards that are in his hand. He's been experimenting with ways to stabilize the energy reading levels of the Pendulum cards because the cards were experiencing glitching problems after the day of his duel with Yasuko Yukihana. With his two Pendulum cards in his hand, Declan makes a move. By taking a deep breath, he begins the experiment.

"I set the Scale 1 D/D Savant Galilei as well as the Scale 10 D/D Savant Kepler to the Pendulum Scale!" Declan places his **D/D Savant Galilei (Scale 1)** and **D/D Savant Kepler (Scale 10)** at both edges of his red blade, forming the rainbow 'Pendulum' word on it.

Altogether, one stone monster with a gold helmet that has multiple rings around the inside that has roving circles and the second stone tablet monster with clockwork mechanism gears float up in the air under the pillar of lights. They stop midair as their Pendulum Scale number reveals underneath them.

"Now, I can summon monsters between levels 2 and 9 simultaneously!" Declan exclaimed. " _Grand power swaying my soul itself! Let the energy of the universe become a new light inside me and purge all the darkness dwelling within!_ I _**Pendulum Summon**_! I call upon my three monsters to emerge!" From the portal above Declan, a single ray of light falls from the hole until it allows Declan to Pendulum Summon three copies of his **D/D/D Doom King Armageddon (ATK 3000/DEF 1000)**. "The three Transcended Deities that dominate over all Kings! My trio of D/D/D Doom King Armageddons!" Three large crystal shaped monsters with faces on the top and dark black holes in their bodies descend and float above Declan.

Up from the observation room, the scientists and Claude were observing the test results. Sometime after the duel between Declan and Yasuko, they have been working on Pendulum cards nonstop until they can get the potential correctly.

"Pendulum Summon confirmed!"

"All of the summoning energy levels are holding steady at normal levels, sir."

"Good," said the leading head scientist. "If we can keep it stabilized, we can maintain just how the things are right now."

Declan is aiming to get the Pendulum cards ready. He was facing forward with his monsters above him. His eyes are imaging himself in a duel against anyone. The first person that pops into his mind was Yasuko Yukihana and her Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon and Exploder Dragonwing. After experiencing his first defeat at the hands of the stranger, Declan is looking for a rematch with Yasuko since he considers Yasuko to be unknown even to him.

"Yasuko Yukihana," said Declan. "The Duelist of Unknown." He is feeling the urge to use the last card that is in his hand. Just as he was about to use it, the leading scientist calls to him.

"Mr. President!" he called. "We have cleared our goal! The test was a success! Your design modifications worked flawlessly! We are making progress, sir!"

Declan was snapped out of his thoughts after he thought he was dueling Yasuko Yukihana. He nearly has forgotten what he was doing in the middle of the testing phase for the Pendulum cards.

* * *

Once the test results are over, Declan and Claude meet back at his office. They are going over the statistics of the Pendulum card energy levels.

While Declan was sitting at the desk, Claude was briefing him on the situation that is in his hands. "Congratulations," Claude praised. "Now, Leo Corporation's Pendulum cards are one step closer to completion."

Declan takes a remote to give details regarding Pendulum cards. "Yes, but they're still far from perfect." He clicks on the remote to provide Claude with the details.

The statistics in the energy level output from Yuya's Pendulum cards and his own are not of the same. While Declan's Pendulum cards are at stabilizing levels, Yuya's Pendulum cards are still at the highest point in their files.

"Our cards are good, but we must strive for them to be the best," Declan pointed out. "Compared to Yuya Sakaki's _original_ Pendulum cards, their energy levels and output are unfavorable." He clicks the remote again to let him get to the second chart. One of which is comparing Yasuko's three new Pendulum cards to his own. "And in short, we still need more data regarding these Pendulum cards," said Declan. "Our prototypes are not stabilized enough to handle the highest point like Yasuko's Pendulum cards." He clicks on the remote again; the third chart is equating the significant differences in Yasuko's and Yuya's Pendulum Summon.

"These two are something else." Declan checks back at the charts. "Out of these two, they all have similar outputs to handle even the highest density: high enough to handle even these three." Declan switches to the final chart. The last graph shows Declan and Claude the statistics of a different summoning method, or rather, a combined summoning method.

In the statistic chart, the three frequency bars are relating to Pendulum, but with a combined Extra Deck method. "Three different summoning methods; all related to Pendulum," said Claude. "And right on the day when Yasuko first Pendulum Summon."

"A Pendulum Summon followed by Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon," Declan divulged. "These were detected just a few hours after we left the You-Show." Declan turns off the monitor. After some thinking, the young man has come to a hypothesis that Yasuko may have something to do behind it. However, it was only a theory as he needs to see through it deeper. "Add all this together, our Pendulum cards are not even close to being ready in a combat situation in their current state," Declan concluded as he adjusts his glasses.

"Yes, I couldn't agree more, sir," Claude corresponded. "I will make sure that the development team pushes even harder. We'll do whatever it takes to be ready before the Arc League Championship."

Declan rises from his seat and turns to the window. "The Arc League is the deadline," he informed. "We have to be certain of that." He raises two fingers and snaps to let the window covers digitized out. The view of Maiami City is in his sight. "This is _my_ city, Claude," Declan proclaimed. "And I will not lose to anyone in _my_ city." Declan adjusts his red-rimmed glasses. "No matter who they are, or where they come from."

* * *

Yesterday, her head felt like a frying pan hit it. Yasuko had to take a break after her possibly painful duel against the Unknown Duelist. The effect damage that the unknown duelist did to her was very real. She wonders why though. The solid images shouldn't be able to inflict real damage unless she was in an Action Field. Of course, Yasuko would have to come over to the You-Show Duel School and get Yuya because he is the only accountable eye-witness, she needs someone like him to be her evidence should she be in deep trouble.

Yasuko and Yuya ended up sitting at the center of the duel arena. Across from each other, five meters apart in Yasuko's perspective, they all sit criss-cross on the floor. Yasuko had a meditating sitting pose while Yuya crosses his arms across his chest. As Yuya ponders about something yesterday, Yasuko is busy mediating her mind. Truthfully, she was disturbed by her duel against the Unknown Duelist. She has so many questions rambling her head. The more that she thinks about it, the less she understands it.

Each of them and their eyes close like they were meditating together. It was a rare occasion even to the three kids who've been watching them all morning.

"This is a real surprise," said Tate. "Normally, they would start arguing or scolding each other right about now, but this is a peaceful session."

Allie nodded. "I know," she said. "Yasuko didn't seem to have the energy to even talk back to him."

Frederick scratched the back of his head. "I suppose maybe it's because all those quizzes must've broken Yuya's head that she seems to regret taking her anger out on him," he assumed.

Meanwhile, Yuya focuses hard on thinking back to what Nico Smiley said about giving the audience the joy and the smiles after his match. He does seem to like that idea, but the question for him is how he can make everyone smile through his Entertainment Duel. Nico told him that every Pro-Duelist's job is to make everyone smile, but also to make them anticipate with expectations. If that is true, then he is coming up with a whole lot of ways to make surprises like his father.

Yasuko, on the other hand, was thinking about her unknown attacker. After brief thinking, she manages to piece together the puzzle of the recent events that were occurring since she first got to the city. First, there was an attack on Sylvio from someone who is an Xyz Summon user, and he was described as Yuya Sakaki, then there was another attack on the LDS professor, and he disappeared ever since, and lastly, the unknown duelist she dueled performed an Xyz Summon. She also didn't forget the giant bird claw marking that was on the highway bridge.

Yasuko puts in the pieces together until it was only half of what it was. She comes to conclude that the Yuya doppelgänger she saw was the first attacker because he was the first one to strike against the LDS, and the unknown duelist was probably the second attacker.

Yuya gives an annoying groan and lays back against the floor. His moan makes Yasuko twitch her eyebrow once with irritation. "If you're done now, can we get going?" she asked. "I'm not gonna be waiting for you on an empty stomach."

Yuya opens his eyes and glances at Yasuko. "Hey, Yasuko, can I ask you something?"

Yasuko opens one of her eyes and looks down at him. "What?" she inquired, slightly irritated.

"When you duel, did you make anyone around you some anticipation?" Yuya asked. "You know, like make them bewildered by your Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon."

Yasuko closes her eye and said, "I don't give anyone anticipations; they just get surprised by how I can do it."

Yuya hummed and looked up at the window caged ceiling. "Nico said that a professional duelist has to make surprises, so I was thinking of how to make it surprising for them," he said.

Yasuko finally opens both her eyes and narrows them at Yuya. "That's not what I want to talk about."

"I know you want to talk about yesterday," Yuya proved. "But can you please help me out here? I need some pointers. You can do Pendulum, Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon, so I need some tips about how to use them in my Entertainment Duel."

Yasuko inhales before sighing. "Why asking me?" she questioned. "I don't duel in big crowds. You should talk to Mr. Hiiragi about it; he knows your stuff better than I do."

Yuya makes a heavy sigh. "He hasn't even spoken to me since today," said Yuya. "I remember they always talked about how surprised the audience was when my dad first flew through the sky in an Action Duel."

Yasuko's eyes rove up, thinking back to what Declan said to her when she dueled him. She can hear his words all over again.

" _Yusho Sakaki was a very admirable duelist for exploiting the possibility of dueling. He made Action Duels as popular and exciting as it is today. As one of the pioneers who helped build the foundations for the Golden Age of Action Duels, I sincerely respect him."_

"Declan Akaba," Yasuko stated. "He knew what he was doing and refused to show his hidden powers until now."

Yuya nodded in agreement. "He did surprise all of us, including you, Yasuko," he admitted. "Remember?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes, thinking about Declan's triple Extra Deck technique. To see someone like him summon all three different Extra Decks monster is a surprise. She never thought of seeing someone else do more than just one Extra Deck method.

"He Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon one after another," said Yuya. "A lot of people can't do more than just one Extra Deck technique, and then, he did the unthinkable." Yuya had a short flashback to when Declan first Pendulum Summon in front of a whole audience. He was able to overwhelm her with sheer power that pushed her to a corner.

"And that's not all…" Yuya continued before he exchanged the look with Yasuko. "You surprise us too." Yuya had a series of flashbacks to when he first saw Yasuko's hidden power. She demonstrated her Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summon.

"How'd you do them?" Yuya asked. "That would've taken a long time to master all three of those Extra Deck courses, but you just explained to them like they were homework, and you've been able to use Pendulum to your advantage."

Yasuko makes a shrug as she turns her head slightly away from his gaze. "I don't know exactly," she answered. "I can't remember how I know learned Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon; I just know them."

Yuya then recalled something that Yasuko told him about Pendulum.

" _If you want to become the master of Pendulum, then why not you try to master all three Extra Deck summoning techniques first and utilize them into your Pendulum. You can make Pendulum Summon evolve even further, so maybe this would be the basic building blocks for you to use."_

Her words sure did make him wonder about their first duel. She went from a Pendulum Summon to an Xyz Summon at the instant of her first turn. It was like Yasuko's already evolving further. He takes out his pendant from his neck and lifts it in the air to look at it. "Hey, Yasuko, when you said that Pendulum Summon could evolve even further, what do you mean by that?" Yuya asked. "When you Pendulum Summon, and then Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon, can it happen? If I can master the three Extra Deck methods, then will that evolve Pendulum?"

Yasuko didn't like answering Yuya's questions because she wants to talk to him about her encounter with the Unknown Duelist, and not about the Arc League Championship. She can tell that Yuya cannot look ahead and see what the powers of Pendulum Summon can do for him. She figures that if she can do Pendulum Summon, then it's apparent that the girl can transition to a different summoning method whenever she wants.

"How should I know that?" Yasuko answered. "All I know is I was using Pendulum to my advantage and make sure that I meet the right conditions to a different summoning method, now if you're done—" Yasuko gets up from the floor, "—I'm going out to eat." And with that, she starts to walk out of the arena.

Yuya gets up at the instant and catches up with her. "But Yasuko, I need help here," he said.

Yasuko stops and turns halfway to face Yuya, annoyed with him persisting on teaching him to an Extra Deck summon. "Look, I told you, I was able to learn Pendulum Summon after seeing you do it and just copied it. I use my knowledge of Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz to test if it would work," she explained. "Don't you think we should discuss something else like—oh I don't know—Yesterday?"

Yuya's shoulder sagged a bit, but he understands that Yasuko wants to talk to him about what happened yesterday when she dueled the unknown duelist. "I know…," he said.

The two exits out of the duel arena as Yasuko collects her gym bag. "Alright, listen, there is something Yuya and I need to talk about, so we're gonna have to miss class today."

The three children glance at each other with concern. "Uh, actually, we haven't even got class today," Tate said.

"Yeah, Mr. Hiiragi's been at the gym all day, and he's been acting weird lately," Allie revealed.

"How weird?" Yasuko inquired.

* * *

Yasuko can feel the back of her head giving a sweat drop in confusion when she asked what Shuzo Hiiragi is up to all morning. The teacher was pulling cards out of a five-foot sized stack from a device. He had his left arm held behind his back while his right arm is drawing cards. He was drawing so much that every card he draws gets to a pile on the floor.

"383! 384! 385! 386! 387! 388! 389! 390! 391! 392! 393! 394! 395!" Shuzo panted as he sweats like crazy from his crazy workout in his orange sweatpants and jacket.

Yasuko turned to Yuya and asked, "Has he been doing this since I got here?"

Yuya makes a sheepish smile. "Uh well, sort of…" he answered.

Yasuko sighs. "I had to ask, didn't I?" She opens the two doors wide to reveal herself. "Uh…Mr. Hiiragi, I need you to explain to Yuya about Pendulum," she called. "He needs to know what it means to evolve Pendulum, and I'm having trouble explaining this to him, so can you help me out?" she requested.

Shuzo draws one card after another as he pants to explain her situation. "Well —" Shuzo draws a card, "—since you've asked—" he draws a card, "Just take deep breaths—" he draws a card, "—It's not a sprint—" he draws a card, "—just take—" he draws another card, "—one step at the time—" he draws, "and stay on one path!"

Yuya steps forward. "But which path?" he asked. "I can't take one step to a path I don't know to follow! Couldn't you give me a little more advice than that?"

Shuzo grits his teeth from exhaustion, but he keeps on going to draw more cards from the jumbo-sized stack. "Ah, don't ask me!" he exclaimed. "I can't see it at all!" He continued to talk to Yuya while he draws a card. "Sure, we used to run the same path, but now…" Shuzo's eyes start to get wet with tears. "I don't even know why my Zuzu, my one and only beloved daughter, won't even train with her daddy anymore!" he cried, holding his head to give off a loud wail of despair.

Yasuko can't tell if he was crying or screaming in pain. "Uh…Zuzu?" she inquired.

"Daughter?" Yuya wondered.

"Speaking of, what about Zuzu?" Yasuko questioned, turning her head to the three kids who were behind the doorway.

"Zuzu's been MIA lately," Allie pointed out. "I wonder where she is right now?"

Frederick turns his head to his peers. "She must be with Sora again?" he assumed.

Tate turns to the other two. "Yeah, it's his fifth match today," he stated.

Yasuko blinks in curiosity. She had no idea that Zuzu is with Sora. She wonders what they were doing. "Uh, Yuya, I think we should just go and let Mr. Hiiragi…" She glances back at Shuzo, who was still crying on the floor in all fours, his head hung down while giving off a low weep. "Uh…mourn for a bit longer."

Yuya thinks that it is for the best since Shuzo is depressed with the recent loss of trust in his daughter's willingness to learn from her dad. "Uh…maybe we should…."

* * *

Yuya and Yasuko take their lunch at the ramen shop. They ordered ramen. Yasuko was still eating her bowl while Yuya is halfway finishing his own. Neither of them talks about anything about Yuya's upcoming matches to improve his skills for the Arc League Championship.

Yasuko is certainly not wanting to talk about it. She had other things to talk about like the unknown masked duelist who attacked her. She breaks the ice as she starts to speak to him. "Yuya, I know you want to improve for the Arc League Championship, but we need to talk," Yasuko stated.

Yuya nodded in understand. "Mmm. It's about yesterday," he said. Yuya had a short flashback to when he first came to the alleyway right in the middle fo Yasuko's duel against the Unknown Duelist.

"What happened back there?" Yuya asked. "You said that you were attacked and that you forced to duel that masked guy." He leans forward a bit to hear better. "So, what happened?

Yasuko stops eating for a moment and looks out at the window. "I was walking down to a place I wish to see when this guy appeared out of nowhere. He assumed that I work for the Leo Corporation or the Leo Institute," she explained. "I told him I was not, but the asshole didn't believe me and snared me in some solid image rope. I can't even remove it. It was like it's glued to my wrist. So, I was forced to duel him because he refused to let the anchor go."

Yuya held a finger. "And that's where I came in."

Yasuko nodded. "Yep," she responded. "And after that, I never saw him again."

Yuya looks down at his bowl, thinking about the guy. "Still, he was able to Xyz Summon."

"He had five monsters with the same levels, I suspect that he was trying to pull off something like that," Yasuko replied, "so I thought I could end the duel quicker before he ever gets the chance to do it, but…" Yasuko stares at her wrist that was caught by the cable. "It looked like he knows what I was about to do before I had the chance to take him down...As if he was prepared."

Yuya scrutinized his eyebrows in curiosity. "What does this all mean?"

"I have no idea," Yasuko answered. "I believe there's a pattern to all of this." Yuya looks up at Yasuko as she continued, "Remember when Zuzu said that she thought she saw you attacked Sylvio and that you were an Xyz Summoner?"

Yuya nodded. Yasuko thinks that she needs to tell someone about her experience, and she believes that Yuya can be the only person that she can trust to understand. "You see. There was an attack on LDS members, and two of them were students and teachers alike."

Yuya starts to understand better as she talks it out to him. "Yeah, I've heard," he said.

"About two days ago, I encountered a guy who—how should I say this without making your disbelief—look like you, Yuya," Yasuko proclaimed.

Yuya is surprised that even Yasuko is starting to believe what Zuzu said about him. "What? Me?" he pointed at himself.

"At first, I thought it was you because of your little sharp chin and those chubby cheeks," Yasuko explained. "but then again, you wouldn't be wearing some black gothic outfit with a cape around, so I assume that it was either your clone or your twin brother."

Yuya slams the table with his fist in annoyance. "I told you I'm the only child, and what makes you think I have a clone?"

Yasuko shrugged. "Don't know, they said those who look alike must be either their long-lost twin relative or a secret experiment to make perfect humans," she assumed.

Yuya had a skeptical look on his face. "You read too many comics and movies."

"Maybe I do," Yasuko agreed. "But still. I thought to myself, how can you be two places at once?" She is getting more questions in her head. She can't be sure if Yuya can learn to Xyz Summon; in fact, she can't even be sure how someone like Yuya Sakaki be able to learn and understand Pendulum Summon when it was never invented before. The first time she met him, Yuya was just a strange boy who loves to use Entertainment Duel, but then, there was the attack on the LDS followed by some identity theft crisis. "You sure you never Xyz Summon before?"

Yuya shakes his head. "No, I've never even Synchro or Fusion Summon before in my life," he stated, causing Yasuko to scrutinize her eyebrows.

"And yet, you learned Pendulum Summon?" Yasuko questioned. "How'd you learn to Pendulum Summon when you've never learned it before in your life?"

Yuya shrugged. "I have no idea how I learned to Pendulum Summon," he answered.

"Uh huh…" Yasuko said slowly.

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly, pondering what the answers are. She did saw the face of Yuya Sakaki on the Yuya doppelgänger. He did look like he was an identical twin. "Still, there's something that bothers me," she said.

Yuya raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Yasuko looks back up to him. "What can you recall when you first Pendulum Summon?" she asked.

Yuya blinked. He looks halfway, recalling anything that had to do with his duel against the Strong Ishijima, the first time when he Pendulum Summon. "Well, I remember that I had an Odd-Eyes Dragon, Stargazer, and Timegazer Magician in my hand, but then…" He then recalls how his cards instantly transformed into the heat of the moment with his duel. "They suddenly changed to becoming Pendulum cards."

Yasuko raises one eyebrow in interest. "Odd-Eyes Dragon?" she asked.

"My Odd-Eyes used to be an effect monster before it changed to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon," Yuya explained. "And that's right where I had the ability to Pendulum Summon."

Yasuko lowers her head, staring at her nearly empty bowl she was eating while listening to Yuya's explanation. "Funny? I used to have all three of my Odd-Eyes to be effect monsters too," she revealed.

"Really?" Yuya inquired.

"Odd-Eyes Persona, Odd-Eyes Mirage, and some of the cards in my deck weren't Pendulum cards before. It's as if they were transformed right when Declan cornered me," Yasuko described. "Anything else happened?"

Yuya had a slight concern look. "Well…" Yuya lifts his pendant from his neck. "When you first Pendulum Summon, my pendant was glowing for no reason at all."

Yasuko blinks in surprise. "You know…" In response, she unclips her crystal keychain pendant from her jean belt loop and lifts it to show him. "This thing was glowing as well," she said.

"What?" Yuya gasped. "It was?"

Yasuko looks down at her crystal keychain pendant. "I don't know why this thing was glowing, but…" She recalled how her crystal keychain was glowing when Yuya first Pendulum Summon. "It was like its reacting to something."

Yuya had looked down at his pendant with questions in his head. "Just what the heck's going on?" he wondered.

"Honestly, I could say the same thing," Yasuko replied.

* * *

After their lunch, Yasuko heads down the street to somewhere. As always, Yuya is persisting about how to make a better performance in his next two matches, and since Yasuko is practically one of the best duelists in the town right now, he thinks maybe she can give him some helpful tips. Yasuko walks on the sidewalk with Yuya strolling beside her. "So, Yasuko, about this Pendulum business," he started.

Yasuko gives him a sound of disgust. "Are we gonna be talking about this Pendulum crap again?"

"But Yasuko, if you're not going to the Arc League Championship, at least you can help me get ready," Yuya persisted. "Zuzu's already working on her Fusion Summon right now."

Yasuko peeks to Yuya. "Zuzu's working on Fusion Summon?" she asked.

"Yeah," Yuya confirmed.

"So that's why she wasn't at the You-Show today," Yasuko realized. "Sora's been teaching her Fusion Summon, hasn't she?"

Yuya nodded. "Zuzu's been stepping up her game by learning Fusion Summon from Sora, and I'm not even taking a single step to improve myself." Yuya looks at the ground while walking. "I'm not going anywhere with just Pendulum alone; I need you to help me, please. Just until the Arc League Championship, and then we won't have to do this again."

Yasuko stops walking as well as Yuya. She makes a heavy sigh fo defeat, knowing how many times will Yuya persevere in asking her to help him improve his skills when it comes to dueling. Even if she refuses right now, eventually, he'll just come back to her for another advice. Yuya is a determined boy who is willing to take significant steps to become a professional duelist just like everyone else. The only thing she can think of is to see if Yuya is ready to learn under her shoes. She doesn't like to teach to someone like Yuya about Extra Deck, but he may be of an exception since she and Yuya have Pendulum cards for now.

Yasuko sighed with a big regret to accept his proposal to make him learn the art of Extra Deck Summons. "Alright, fine, I'll teach you how to Synchro, Xyz, and Fusion Summon."

Yuya's spirits were lifted like a thermometer and give the loudest cheer he could make. "YES!" he hailed.

"Under three conditions," Yasuko interrupted his temporary celebration.

Yuya paled at her statement and faces Yasuko who held three fingers in front of him. "And _only_ three conditions, that is it, nothing else."

Yuya nodded. "Yes, of course," he obeyed.

Yasuko gives him one finger. "One: don't ever call me master, sensei, or teach, just call me by my name only or last name, nothing else." Yuya nodded as she continues with bringing her second finger. "Two: don't ever slack off on my watch, if you want me to teach you how to master the three summoning techniques, you better pay close attention; otherwise I'll call it if you ever slack off when I'm around." Yuya obeys every word she is making to clarify her statement. "And three," Yasuko held her third finger. "Until the Arc League Championship is over, never do something crazy or embarrassing when I'm around you."

The third condition shocks Yuya. "Eh!? What?! Why would I want to do that?!" he questioned.

Yasuko closes her eyes and turns around, crossing her arms on her chest. "Okay, fine, if you don't want to honor those conditions to learn the Extra Deck techniques, then that's fine by me, I don't mind leaving you squatting to your demise." Yasuko ridiculed and was prepared to leave, but Yuya stops her.

"No, wait!" Yuya pleaded. "Alright! I won't do anything embarrassing! Please help me on this Pendulum stuff! I only have two more matches until then!"

Yasuko half turn her head around to take a glance at him. "You sure you want me to do this?" she asked.

Yuya nodded firmly. "Of course, I know I'm not the one who makes requests out of you, but…" Yuya looks at the palm of his hand. "But if I'm ever gonna be like my dad, then I have to get stronger, and I can't think of anyone strong other than you, Yasuko," Yuya stated. "You're practically the strongest duelist I can count on." Yasuko's mouth made a small gape as he continued, "I admit you are good. Seeing you beat Declan makes me yearn to be just as strong as you are. So yeah, I'll do it, Yasuko. I want you to teach me everything you know about Synchro, Xyz, and Fusion Summon."

Yasuko finds his determination speech to be inspiring to anyone who is lacking the necessary skills in dueling. She is quite intrigued to see what kind of duelist Yuya will be if he learned everything Yasuko knew about her Extra Deck knowledge. "Alright, but please don't make any more speeches like that, Yuya," she responded. "It's kinda annoying."

Yuya smiled and threw his head back, praising, "Alright then! This is my chance to shine! Arc League, how I come—"

 _DON!_

Yasuko makes a small cringe when Yuya accidentally hits his back of the head against someone who was running up from behind. He collapsed at the ground with someone from the LDS. Yasuko saw Hokuto on the ground in pain. Yabia shows up later after.

"Ouch!" Yuya cried.

"Don't suddenly get in my way!" Hokuto grunted.

Yuya quickly recognizes the person he bumped. "You!" he gasped, pointing at Hokuto.

In response, Hokuto points at him as well. "Yuya!" he exclaimed.

Yabia points at Yasuko. "Yasuko Yukihana!" he shouted.

"Yabia," Yasuko replied.

Hokuto points up to her. "Yukihana!"

Yasuko looks down at Hokuto. "O'Rion."

Yuya gets angry quick and shouted, "You know, a sorry couldn't hurt, Hokuto!"

Hokuto is easily offended and response back to him. "You're the one to talk! Why should I be the one to apologize for you being clumsy and being in my way!"

"Enough!" Yabia interrupted. "We still got an emergency!"

Hokuto realizes what they were running for and he gets up immediately. "Right!"

Yasuko and Yuya got concern about what kind of crisis that made these two go in a hurry. "What emergency?" Yasuko asked.

"Did something happen?" Yuya questioned.

"We found the guy who's been attacking duelists!" Yabia answered. "They're at the warehouse at the docks!"

Yuya and Yasuko were shocked that the LDS managed to find the culprit who was attacking the LDS members over the past two weeks. Yabia and Hokuto start running, and Yuya follows right behind them. However, Yuya notices that Yasuko isn't running with him. He turned back and saw her standing still. "Yasuko!" Yuya called. "Hey! What are you doing? We have to get to the docks at the warehouses! Zuzu might be in danger!"

Yasuko turns her head away to face the other direction. "I can't come with you."

Yuya is shocked that the one person who is going to teach him the Extra Deck summon techniques isn't coming with him and the rest to confront the culprit. "HUH!?" he gasped. "Come on, Yasuko! You can't just be bailing out like this! Don't tell me you have a curfew?!"

Yuya expected her to make that same excuse whenever Zuzu was in danger, but Yasuko pulls out a paper note from her gym bag and shows it to him. "I need to run some errands," she revealed.

"Are you kidding me?! Are some errands not worth saving Zuzu at this time of need!?" Yuya appalled.

"You've got backup this time; it should be enough for you," Yasuko pointed out. "I'll call you later." And with that Yasuko turns around and heads to the other direction, leaving Yuya in shocked and disbelief that she just bailed out on him again.

"Come on, Yasuko…" Yuya said in annoyance before he makes an annoying sound and turns around to run after Hokuto and Yabia as fast as he can.

* * *

As the sky turns orange, the girl was thinking hard about how the LDS manage to find the culprit. She feels that it was the unknown duelist since he did an Xyz Summon, and it could be the same guy who attacked her because he assumed that she was from the LDS.

"So, they've found who they were looking for, huh?" Yasuko inquired. "Well, this is about to get crazy."

As she walks down the street, her crystal keychain starts glowing brightly. She paused and saw that her keychain is shining like it was brand new. "It's glowing again?" Yasuko takes out her keychain and looks at the pendent radiating in bright turquoise color light. "What the hell? It didn't glow until now?"

Her keychain pendant then stops glowing and shortly after, a bright pink light illuminates from the end of the alleyway. Yasuko turns to the corner and runs after the bright pink light. She changes direction to follow the glorious pink light before it disappears.

Yasuko runs around and halts herself. Her eyes widen, and her mouth forms a large hole when she finds herself confronting the Yuya doppelgänger who was holding an unconscious person on his shoulder. He seems to be struggling with getting his grip together.

The Yuya doppelgänger turns around and finds out that it was the same girl that he encountered days ago. They are all shock to find out that they would be confronting each other again.

* * *

 **Slow update. Got something to do this month, so I was busy. Anyways, this is what I am planning so far. The protagonist becomes somewhat of a mentor type figure is a part of my story concept after all. I hope you all are having a lovely week because I have so much stuff to do back home that I have no little time for the rest of the month. Anyways, I hope you all have enjoyed reading up to this point. Things are about to unravel very soon as I am getting worked up for the next chapter.**

 **Good day you, and have a lovely week.**


	20. Chapter 20: Rise of Dark Rebellion

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 20: Rise of Dark Rebellion; Yasuko Yukihana vs Yuto Abiko_

* * *

Who would've thought that Yasuko would end up confronting the Yuya doppelgänger and the unknown duelist again? She froze in shock when she saw the Yuya doppelgänger. The boy had the same shocking look on his face that Yasuko has.

"What the hell?" Yasuko uttered. She happens to notice that he was carrying a person on his shoulder. She gets a closer look and finds out that it was the unknown duelist who attacked her yesterday. Yasuko can tell by his purple-blue trench coat he wore the last time she and he met.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Yasuko gasped. "That's the same duelist who attacked me yesterday!"

The Yuya doppelgänger looks over to the guy who he was holding on his shoulder. "Oh him? He's my friend," he said. "I told Shun not to attack anyone who believes to be LDS." He gives a heavy sigh. "He should know better."

Yasuko stared at him in confusion as she took a good look at the Yuya doppelgänger. His face does look a lot similar to Yuya Sakaki, but his grey eyes look cold and fierce, and yet serious at the same time. "Are you Yuya's twin brother?" Yasuko asked out of the blue, which cause the masked duelist to turn to her.

"Yuya?" he inquired, raising his eyebrows. "I don't know anyone named Yuya, and I don't have a twin brother; I'm the only child."

Yasuko is annoyed that she got the same exact response when she asked Yuya if he is the only child. "Then I guess you're a clone then," she commented dryly.

"I'm not a clone either," said the Yuya doppelgänger, a little annoyed.

The girl narrows her eyes at the doppelgänger with a serious gaze. "Then what is your name?" Yasuko demanded. She steps forward. "I know I saw you the other day, and you fled from me after I saw your face, so tell me right now, who _are_ you?"

Yasuko's demand was harsh enough to make the Yuya doppelgänger turn his gaze into a glare like he was ready to fight. "You don't want to get involved," he warned. "This is none of your concern."

Yasuko narrows her eyes further to form sharp daggers. "Tell that to your buddy there!" She pointed at the unconscious Shun. "He snared me with that rope of his and forced me to duel him!"

The Yuya doppelgänger looked displeased with her information and glances down at his friend on his shoulder. "My teacher taught us these things," he said. "She never listens to me."

Yasuko's glare didn't weaver from him as she drops her gym bag, causing the Yuya doppelgänger to take a step back in surprise.

"I know you're not Yuya Sakaki and obviously, you were the people responsible for attacking the LDS," Yasuko snapped back, catching him by surprise once again. "Answer me! Why would be attacking the LDS idiots out of the blue?" she demanded. "You think you can just attack random people who were from LDS or assumed they're from the LDS is just? I think you're just a bunch of thugs who think you can get away with attacking random people!" Yasuko takes out her duel disk from her holster and throws it in the air before catching it with her wrist which attached itself to it.

The guy turns around to rest the unconscious Shun on the wall. "I'm warning you, girl..." he advised. "You _don't_ know what you're getting yourself into. Just leave."

Yasuko didn't seem heed to his warnings and bring up her duel disk. "So it is true," she confirmed. "You guys are the ones that attacked LDS."

The Yuya doppelgänger shook his head slightly before making his answer to Yasuko. "That wasn't me... That was a friend of mine..." He glances back behind him. "His name is Shun, and he's just looking for his sister."

Yasuko frowns at Shun resting against the wall. "Shun should learn to never cross paths with someone like me with his red cable of his." She turns his gaze back at the boy. "You're not gonna use that thing too, aren't you?"

The boy shook his head again, much to Yasuko's surprise. "I disapprove of what my kind of methods my teacher taught us to do," he said. "I refuse to trap anyone who would flee using this brutal and unforgivable act."

Yasuko finds his morals to be very just. "How noble of you for not using that red cable, but that doesn't change the fact that your friend there attacked me, so now it's my turn to attack you," she retorted. "Mr. Yuya doppelgänger slash twin brother."

The boy narrows his eyes slightly. "It's Yuto," he corrected. "Yuto Abiko."

Yasuko didn't seem to care if he gives her his name. "Whatever, Yuto," she said.

Yuto was convinced that Yasuko is not going to let him get away with what his friend Shun did to make her duel him. He whips his black cloak out and brandished his Duel Disk. It had a different body structure than the one Yasuko uses. Unlike her rectangle model, the duel disk Yuto carries has a round-touch screen with a purple body all over.

Yasuko emits a blue blade glowing out of her forest green disk while at the same time Yuto's blade glows purple from his own. With their duel disk ready, they are ready to begin their battle.

" _ **LET'S DUEL!**_ " they both chorused together.

 **DUEL**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP: 4000)**

 **VS  
Yuto Abiko (LP: 4000)**

With five cards in their hands and duel disk active, they can now begin the duel.

 **Turn 1: Yasuko (5x cards)**

"I'll going first, Yuto," Yasuko announced. She looks down at her hand consisting of **Spear Dragon** , **Assault Wyvern** , **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand** , the Quick-Play Spell card; **Reload** , and a Trap card; **Malevolent Catastrophe**.

She takes out one monster to start her turn. "From my hand, I summon Spear Dragon!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Spear Dragon (ATK 700/DEF 800)**. On her field comes out a blue dragon with a long pointy snout and light underbelly scales. "Next, I place one card face-down and end my turn," Yasuko concludes her turn as she Sets a card on the field.

 **Turn 2: Yuto (5x cards)**

Yuto didn't draw immediately. He was being cautious with Yasuko. He studied her and could tell that she is tempered for how Shun attacked her with the red cable. He doesn't want her to get herself tangled with either of them. "I'm only asking you this again, you don't want to get involve with this," Yuto warned again. "Just leave and don't come to us."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at Yuto. "What makes you think it's none of my concern?" she questioned. "You should've told your friend there never to attack anybody who assumed to be from the Leo Corporation."

In response, Yuto frowns his own eyes at her. "Trust me," he said. "I have no control over him. He is stubborn sometimes, but the last thing you can do is not get involved."

Yasuko had no idea what Yuto was talking about and is already annoyed with him. "Just make your move already," she rebuked.

Yuto sighs heavily, given up hope to convince Yasuko to back down on the duel. "Fine, but you'll leave me no choice," he said. "It's my turn now! I draw!" He draws a card from his deck.

Looking down, he picks one card and summons a monster on the field. "From my hand, I summon The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm!" Yuto Normal Summons **The Phantom Knights of Cloven Helm (ATK 1500/DEF 500)**. The monster he summoned was a blight blue ghost wearing a silver knight helmet and gloves with red scarf underneath the helmet.

"Next, I place three cards face-down and end my turn," Yuto concluded as he Sets three cards on his field to finish his turn.

 **Turn 3: Yasuko (3x cards)**

Yasuko raises an eyebrow out of curiosity. Normally, some duelists would cut to the chase and be over with, but Yuto is making his turn by summoning a monster and three face-downs.

" _Three face-downs?_ _He's studying me,"_ Yasuko thought. She placed her fingers on top of her deck. "It's my turn now!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck, she takes a peek at it, and it was **Pandemic Dragon**.

Her eyes narrow starting her move. "I summon Assault Wyvern!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**. On her field beside the snout dragon is her second monster; a blue-winged two-legged dragon with a tail and blight blue crystal gems on the wings and its chest.

"Battle!" Yasuko raises her hand. "Assault Wyvern attacks Cloven Helm!" The blue wyvern flies down swiftly like a jet as it comes close to slice the ghost knight. With one swoop, the blue wyvern cuts down the ghost knight before dispersing into particles dealing damage to Yuto.

He flinched once from her attack, but it didn't faze him.

 **(Yuto: LP 4000** → **3700)**

"Now Spear Dragon attacks you directly!" Yasuko exclaimed. The snout dragon opens its jaws and shoots out a neon green beam over to hit Yuto at his chest. He grunts after the beam pierced through because it is solid version and not the real thing. He was pushed back by the force of the monster but remains standing only in pain.

 **(Yuto: LP 3700** → **1800)**

"Assault Wyvern's special effect activates!" Yasuko announced. "If this card successfully destroys a monster in battle, I can tribute it to Special Summon one Dragon-type monster from my hand!" Yasuko released her blue wyvern as it disperses into a bright light before reassembling to become her other dragon. "I Special Summon Pandemic Dragon from my hand!" Yasuko Special Summons **Pandemic Dragon** **(ATK 2500/DEF 1000)**. The particles reassemble to form a purple red-eyed dragon with arms and claws at the upper body and a long tail. The middle body happens to have biohazard wing shape on the middle of the body.

"Pandemic Dragon attacks you directly!" Yasuko points at Yuto. The biohazard dragon charges a bright orange glow in its mouth before unleashing a powerful blast that is shot straight for Yuto. Before the beam could hit him, Yuto makes a counterattack.

"I activate the trap card!" Yuto declared. "The Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine!" He places his face-down Continuous Trap card; **The** **Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine**. "This card lets me Special Summon Shade Brigandine as a monster in Defense Position!" Yuto uses the trap as a Trap Monster: **The** **Phantom Knights of Shade Brigandine (Warrior/DARK/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 300)** in Defense Position. The field opens up a portal to let up a flaming ghost armor in the air.

Yasuko grits her teeth and growls a little. "Fine then," she said. "I will attack your Shade Brigandine!" The biohazard dragon turns its jaws to fire an orange laser beam over to destroy the shade.

"And now Spear Dragon's special effect activates," said Yasuko. "When Spear Dragon battled, it is switched to Defense Position at the end of the Damage." The snouty dragon switches to Defense Position after taking in the attack.

"I end my turn," Yasuko declared.

 **Turn 4: Yuto (2x cards)**

Yasuko was curious about Yuto's last move on her turn. He had the chance to use his face-down, but instead, he took the attacks until the last minute. She can think of two things about Yuto. Either Yuto's being soft or holding back. The thought of him holding back on her makes Yasuko insulted from the inside.

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Yuto draws a card. He picks one card from his hand.

"I summon to the field, Phantom Knights of Ragged Glove!" Yuto Normal Summons **The Phantom Knights of Ragged Glove (ATK 1000/DEF 500)**. On his field comes another bright blue ghost, but this one has huge armored gloves with blue knuckle casing and wore a warrior helmet on top of its head.

"Now, if I control a level 3 Phantom Knights, I can Special Summon the Phantom Knights of Silent Boots from my hand!" Yuto uses the effects of his monster to special summon **The Phantom Knights of Silent Boots (ATK 200/DEF 1200)**. He summons a blue ghost wearing a brown shirt, pants, and boots as it was covered in a cloak on top of its head.

"I use my Phantom Knights of Silent Boots and Ragged Glove to build the Overlay Network!" Yuto declared. On his words, the two ghost monsters transformed into purple and violet lights before shooting up in the air and rain down like a meteor into the cosmic portal that formed on the ground as it shoots up a bright light.

" _Soul of warriors fallen on the battlefield, revive now and become the light to rend darkness! I_ _ **Xyz Summon**_ _! Appear, Rank 3 The Phantom Knights of Break Sword!"_ Yuto Xyz Summons **The Phantom Knights of Break Sword (ATK 2000/DEF 1000)**. From the field on Yuto's side is a blue flaming ghost knight riding a ghost horse. It's like looking at the Headless Horseman except the rider doesn't have legs; it seems to be attached to the armored ghost horse. It was holding a massive sword with two Overlay Units rotating around it. It lands with a powerful thud that caused the earth to quake and the ground to crack into a crater.

Yasuko didn't seem surprised by the Xyz Summon. If Shun, her attacker, can Xyz Summon, then she comes to realize that her opponent also knows Xyz Summon. "To think you can Xyz Summon," said Yasuko. "Got anything else to hide?"

Yuto didn't answer as he continues with his move. "Ragged Glove's effect activates!" he said. "Since I used the monster as an Xyz Material, the DARK-attribute monster I Xyz Summon with gains a 1000 ATK!" The break sword knight glows a yellow aura to gain its power boost.

 **(The Phantom Knights of Break Sword: ATK 2000** → **3000)**

"Battle!" Yuto declared. "I attack Pandemic Dragon with my Phantom Knight Sword Break!" The headless ghost monster charges directly at Yasuko's biohazard on the field.

"I activate my Trap!" Yasuko shouted. She flips up her Trap Card: **Malevolent Catastrophe**. "This card is called Malevolent Catastrophe! When my opponent declares an attack, this card destroys all Spell and Trap Cards on the field!" The trap card emits a powerful purple wind before blowing them over to Yuto's field since he has more Spell and Trap cards than Yasuko's. The two face-down cards are flipped up before being destroyed by Yasuko's own trap card.

"Even so, my monster still attacks!" Yuto pointed out. The break sword slashes one over to destroy the biohazard dragon, destroying it to deal damage to Yasuko.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3500)**

"Yeah, but you just activated Pandemic Dragon's special effect!" Yasuko interjected. "When this monster is destroyed, all face-up monsters on the field loses 1000 ATK points!" The mirage of the biohazard dragon appears before Yuto before spraying acid all over the field, effectively weakening the break sword and the snout dragon.

 **(The Phantom Knights of Break Sword: ATK 3000** → **2000)**

 **(Spear Dragon: ATK 1900** → **900)**

Yuto takes out one more card from his hand. "I Set this card face-down, and I end my turn," Yuto concluded. Yuto Sets a card. "And at this moment, Break Sword's ATK points return to normal."

 **(The Phantom Knights of Break Sword: ATK 2000** → **1000)**

 **Turn 5: Yasuko (2x cards)**

Yasuko was thinking of options to see how she can beat someone like Yuto. If she comes to assume that Yuto and Shun are together, then it would be bad if Yuto gets the upper hand.

"It's my turn!" Yasuko exclaimed as she draws a card from her deck. By looking, she narrows her eyes and activates the Spell Card: **Trade-In**. "I activate the Spell, Trade-In! This card lets me discard one level 8 Dragon-type monster from my hand to draw two cards!" Yasuko discards her **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand** to draw two cards from her deck.

"Then, I summon Guardian of Felgrand!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Guardian of Felgrand (ATK 500/DEF 500)**. A tanned knight with silver armor and yellow-green hair holding an ax appear on Yasuko's field. "Now, I activate Guardian of Felgrand's special effect," she said. "When Guardian is Normal summoned, I can equip one level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my deck to it." Yasuko turns to her duel disk to select one card and chooses **Darkblaze Dragon**. "I choose to equip it with Darkblaze Dragon!"

Yasuko's monster jumps up as the black-armored orange scaled dragon appears before the guardian lands on its back, making it like a dragon rider. Due to its effect, the Felgrand guardian gains ATK and DEF points equal to the monster that it is equipped with.

 **(Guardian of Felgrand: ATK 500/DEF 500** → **ATK 1700/DEF 1700)**

"Now, I activate Guardian's other effect," Yasuko added. "I can tribute one monster and itself on the field to Special Summon one Level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster in my graveyard!" She throws her hand to the monsters that are in front of her. "I tribute both Spear Dragon and Guardian to Special Summon Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand!" Both monsters puff up into dust before reassembling back to Special Summons **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand (ATK 2800/DEF 2800)**. Yasuko resurrects the dragon lord with silky gold armor and black underbelly scales.

"Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand's special effect activates! When this card is Special Summoned from the graveyard, I can target one monster that my opponent controls from either the field or graveyard and banish it!" She points at Yuto. "I choose to banish your Break Sword!" The break sword monster on Yuto's field disappears which leaves him wide open. "And my dragon gains ATK points equal to it's Level or Rank times 100."

The dragon lord glows under the yellow aura as it is getting powered up.

 **(Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand: ATK 2800/DEF 2800** → **ATK 3100/DEF 3100)**

Yuto is giving Yasuko an angry scowl that now only was she able to get rid of his monster with removing it from play.

"Now, Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand, attack Yuto directly!" The dragon lord opens its jaws to prepare itself to fire the beam. When the output is strong enough, the dragon lord unleashes a bright orange beam over to the boy. Suddenly, Yuto makes a counter-attack of his own.

"I activate the Phantom Knights of Mist Claws and Dark Gauntlets trap cards from my graveyard!" Yuto declared as the boy takes out two of his trap cards that were from his graveyard. "When my opponent attacks me directly, I can Special Summon these cards from my graveyard as monsters." Yuto was able to save himself by Special Summoning two Trap monsters: **The Phantom Knights of Mist Claws (Warrior/DARK/Level 4/ATK 0/DEF 0)** and **The Phantom Knights of Dark Gauntlet (Warrior/DARK/Level 4/ATK 300/DEF 600)** in Defense Position. On Yuto's field, two ghost knights rose from the ground and stand beside the boy. One ghost knight has metal knight gauntlets while the other one is slim and sports on two claws on both arms.

"Mist Claw's effect activates!" Yuto added. "It lets me target one level 4 or lower Phantom Knight from my graveyard and Special Summon it to the field!" As a bonus, Yuto was able to Special Summon back to his field, **The Phantom Knight of Cloven Helms** in Defense Position. The flaming blue ghost with big shiny armor and a helmet resurrect back on the field.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow of interest. She never met another duelist like Yuto who can use the graveyard to his advantage. "So, beat it," she said. "Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand attack Phantom Knight Cloven Helm!" As Yasuko gestures to hand to the monster, the dragon lord continues on with the attack and fires an orange laser beam over to the cloven helm, effective destroying the monster.

Yasuko takes a look down at a card before she Sets it. "I'm just going to set this card face-down and end my turn."

 **Turn 6: Yuto (0x card)**

The boy seems to be curious about how the girl is playing her moves. He knows that Yasuko is holding back against him in the duel. It is as if she was also being cautious as him. He wonders what the girl's gameplay is. "What's your deal?" Yuto asked out of curiosity. "I've noticed that you're not giving it all that you've got."

Yasuko narrows at her opponent. "Funny? I was thinking the same thing," she said. "Ever since we duel, I've been getting these strange vibes in the back of my skull, thinking why you haven't gone out against me. Most duelists I encounter would just go for the chase, but you seem to be very calm." Yasuko is sure enough that whoever Yuto, she can admit that he isn't a bad duelist. Yasuko's eyes glower to him. "What gives? Can't seem to attack a girl?"

Yuto looks down at the ground, pondering about something he knows it's against him. "It's never in my nature to hurt anyone."

Yasuko raises her eyebrows skeptically. "But you attack anyone who was LDS including your idiot friend there, Shun," she accused. "He attacked me after I was accused of being a part of LDS

"It's true that Shun and I attacked those who are with the LDS, but only because he optioned it," Yuto explained half-heartedly. "I refuse to follow his footsteps to attack anyone who is a part of the LDS as I optioned out for an interrogation."

Yasuko finds his story to be confusing as she raises an eyebrow. "Why is that?" she asked.

"Because it is what my teacher taught me…" Yuto closes his eyes, recalling something his sensei usually talk to him about. "She believes that the best way of getting into your enemy is through interrogations by any means necessary, it was not my word I vowed, but even if it means to get information of our enemies, then that is what it means to win."

Yasuko frowns at Yuto. "Hate to break to you, but I think your sensei is a friggin' psychopath if she taught you to do any of that."

When Yuto opened his eyes, it was full of hatred. Yasuko is suspicious of why his face got hardened. "You're mistaken. It was not her belief at first, she too thinks that dueling is to make everyone happy with joy that is…if it wasn't for our enemies."

"Enemies?" she inquired.

"Fusion," Yuto revealed. "Fusion is our enemy and because of them, my sensei took things to a drastic matter."

Yasuko is not understanding anything that Yuto is talking about. She got her answers, but it was still not enough to explain why Shun would attack her because she was a "part" of the LDS. "And that would mean attack anyone who is LDS?" she assumed.

Yuto stared at her as he explained, "I wouldn't want to attack anyone from the LDS unless they hold information about our enemies."

The more he explained about the enemy, the less Yasuko comprehends it. "I don't know what you're talking about, bub," Yasuko responded.

Yuto was expecting her reaction because he knew that none of the people were even aware of the enemy. "I don't expect you to," he said. Regardless, Yuto can't fonder with Yasuko anymore. Like him, Yasuko is studying his every move he makes.

"It's my turn now, I draw!" Yuto draws a card.

"I Overlay my level 4 Dark Gauntlets and my Mist Claw so that I can build the Overlay Network!" Yuto raises his hand as the trap monsters on his field transformed into violet and purple lights. They show up in the air and descend to the galaxy portal before it shoots up the bright light.

" _From the pitch black of darkness! The fangs of rebellion will fight all of those who are foolish enough to oppose its stupidity powers! Descend now! I_ _ **Xyz Summon**_ _! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"_ Yuto chanted before Yasuko as he Xyz Summons **Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. Upon the bright light, it spread and in a matter of seconds, the dragon appears in front of Yasuko.

 _THUMP-THUMP!_

Yasuko suddenly gasped. She never felt the same deep heartbeat. She can't understand why her heart just beat loudly to her eardrums. Whatever is causing her heart to take a long beat must be with the dragon that Yuto summoned.

Yasuko stares up at the slim black armored dragon with purple and turquoise scales mixed on from the neck to the bottom of the legs who roars loudly to her ears. She happens to notice that Dark Rebellion happens to have a similar back blade like Yuya's Pendulum Dragon and her Phantom Dragon, only it's grey and has two pink glowing orbs on top and they seem to be connected to wings. The dragon has a very sharp bone underneath its chin, and it has four claws on two arms, and bright gold eyes with its two purple glowing Overlay Units floating around it.

Somehow, seeing Yuto's Xyz dragon is starting to build the sweat in Yasuko's skin. Her eyes are very wide open like they were about to pop out. She was gazing at Dark Rebellion like she is seeing a nightmare.

Her mouth opened very little as she makes small noises. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon," she uttered. It was like she was in a state of trance that Yasuko has forgotten that she was in the middle of a duel against Yuto.

The boy was at first curious of why Yasuko would be staring at his dragon, but he cannot miss his chance. "I play my Quick-Play spell, Mystical Space Typhoon!" Yuto uses Quick-Play Spell Card; **Mystical Space Typhoon** from his hand. "This card lets me destroy one Spell or Trap card on the field, and I choose that face-down right there!" Yuto points at Yasuko's Set card that was on the field and a lightning bolt zaps through the spell card to destroy it.

"Now, I activate Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's special effect!" Yuto declared. "By using one Overlay Unit, I activate Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon's special effect! It can halve one of my opponent's level 5 or higher monster's ATK and it gains all those lost ATK points until the end of the turn!" An Overlay Unit floating around Dark Rebellion disperses, and the wings from Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon opens up to discharge pink electricity from the small gaps in between. Dark Rebellion unleashes its discharging electricity at her dragon lord. It wraps tightly around Yasuko's dragon lord as it shrieked in pain over the loss of its attack points.

 **(Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand: ATK 3100** → **155** **0)**

" _Treason Discharge!"_ Dark Rebellion screeches loudly as it gains the attack points of Pandemic Dragon.

 **(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: ATK 2500** → **4050)**

Yasuko is shocked to find his dragon's attack points to be superior to her. "Oh crap," she cursed. She had no idea that Yuto had a monster with such capabilities. " _If Yuto's going to use his lat Overlay Unit, I'm screwed."_

Unexpectedly, Yuto makes his next move which shocked Yasuko.

"Battle!" Yuto points at her weakened monster. "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, attack Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand!" As the wings on Dark Rebellion continues to discharge a large amount of electricity, the gaps in between the wings ignite blue bursts of light to fuel the dragon. It flaps its wings once before flying straight toward her biohazard dragon. The horn under the chin glows brightly as more electricity ignites the horn to glow.

" _Revolt of the Lightning Disobey_!" Yuto exclaimed as Dark Rebellion comes in very fast for Yasuko to see it.

At the instant, Dark Rebellion collided the biohazard dragon, piercing its sharp chin right through her monster, causing a massive explosion that sends Yasuko.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3500** → **1000)**

Yasuko screams as she was falling back against the ground with a painful thud, hurting herself in the back. Trash cans and debris fly everywhere because of the strong winds. After the shockwave blast ended, Yasuko recovers and faces the goth duelist.

He stares at the fallen Yasuko who was on the ground. "I end my turn," he concluded. "And that means Dark Rebellion's ATK points return to normal." After Yuto's Dark Rebellion blasts away the monster, Dark Rebellion is weaker than before, but still remained strong.

 **(Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon: ATK 4050** → **2500)**

 **Turn 7: Yasuko (1x card)**

Yasuko grunts after taking the blow from Dark Rebellion's attack. She didn't think that the feedback from his attack would be a lot similar to how Shun's effect damage did to her. "What the hell?" she groaned. "I felt that?" Yasuko slowly gets back up. As she stands back up, Yasuko recalls on her duel with Shun. She didn't think that her dragon and Yuto's Dark Rebellion would create a large crater on the ground due to the force of the blast.

Yasuko has scratches on her hands and her cheeks. Some of her hair was spiking out due to the force. "What the hell?" she inquired. "That was no Once per turn ability. You could've used the last Overlay Unit to kill me. What gives?" Her voice gives off a very low growl of anger.

"Like I said, it is not my place to hurt anyone," Yuto claimed, "but if you don't turn around and walk away, then I will be forced to show you the brute force." His soft warning wasn't reaching into Yasuko, but she heard how concern he must be in the duel.

"It's my turn now," said Yasuko. She was thinking in her head about Yuto's monster: Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. She never encountered a monster such as the one Yuto is facing. " _A face-down and Dark Rebellion. I must end this duel right now before it can use its last Overlay Unit."_ she thought.

Slowly, Yasuko breathes deeply as she places two fingers on her deck. "Alright, I draw!" With one swipe of her finger, she draws a card from her deck. She peeks at it, and it's the only thing that she needs in order to make a comeback.

"I activate my spell card, Pot of Desires!" Yasuko plays her Spell card; **Pot of Desires.** "This card lets me banish ten cards from the top of my deck and I get to draw two cards for that price." Her spell card ejects ten cards from her deck, and Yasuko puts them away. She draws two cards and looks down at them.

" _Alright, here we go,"_ Yasuko thought. As she makes her move, the keychain pendant on her jean loop starts to glow in response to the appearance of Dark Rebellion.

She picks out one card and activates the Quick-Play Spell: **Reload**. "I activate the Spell, Reload!" she exclaimed. "This lets me shuffle the cards back to my deck so that I can draw the same number of cards that I shuffled!" Yasuko places two cards back into her deck and shuffles her deck until she places her two fingers back on the deck. With just one swipe, Yasuko draws two new cards.

In response to the swing, Yasuko's keychain pendant was glowing, not as bright as before, but giving a shine to gleam off the sunlight.

Yasuko takes a look at the monster. Upon looking at the monster, she was surprised to see how her monster is a resemblance to one dragon that she was familiar with, but on a different scale. Her eyes look back up, thinking back to how Dark Rebellion. After considerable thinking, the girl decides to go for it.

"I activate the Spell, Pot of Extravagance!" Taking one the first card, Yasuko plays the **Pot of Extravagance**. "This card lets me banish 3 or 6 cards from my Extra Deck to draw 1 card for every 3 banished!" Her Extra Deck slot opens to let Yasuko remove six cards so she can draw two cards.

"You're going to banish six cards to draw two cards!?" Yuto was shocked by how Yasuko's going to risk her entire Extra Deck slot just so she can get two cards. "Why'd you taking such a big risk? First, you banished ten cards from your deck, but then you are banishing cards from your Extra Deck?"

"It's never a risk unless I'm betting on anything to beat you, Yuto," said Yasuko. "I banish six cards from my Extra Deck to draw two cards!" Yasuko draws two cards from her deck. The crystal keychain was glowing to give off bling once.

"I activate the Spell Card, Return of the Dragon Lords!" Yasuko plays the **Return of the Dragon Lords** Spell Card. "This card lets me Special Summon one Level 7 or 8 Dragon-type monster from my graveyard to the field!" She takes out one and Special Summons back **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand** in Attack Position. "I Special Summon Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand back on the field." The dragon lord resurrects back on the field with a loud roar.

Yuto was expecting something like Yasuko to pull off a resurrection, so he had other counter measures to stop her from using the dragon lord's ability. "I activate the trap. Phantom Knights' Fog Sword!" Yuto flips up his face-down Continuous Trap Card: **Phantom Knights' Fog Sword**. "This card lets me target one monster on the field and it cannot attack nor use its effect as long as this card remains on the field, but my monsters cannot attack it either." The trap card blows a very thick purple fog over to the dragon lord, laminating it with a purple aura.

Yasuko focuses down to the one card that maybe some of use to her final turn. " _Alright, let's see what you are made of, Odd-Eyes."_ She turns back up and activates her monster's effect. "I activate Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon's special effect from my hand!" she declared.

Yuto's eyes grew a bit wide after hearing her next move. "From your hand?" he asked.

"That's right," Yasuko confirmed. "When I have a level 5 or higher monster on the field, I can Tribute Summon this monster by tributing it." She throws her hand over to her dragon lord. "I tribute my Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand to Tribute Summon this monster!" The dragon lord disappears fro Yasuko's field to let her new monster take over as she Tribute Summons **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**.

" _Rise and take the flight to the whole new stage of evolution! Come forth! Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!"_

The new monster that Yasuko has to look almost identical to Yuya's previous form; Odd-Eyes Dragon. It was definitely not Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, but more like an evolved version of what Yasuko recalled from Yuya about his original monster: Odd-Eyes Dragon. Its scales are red and heavily armored all the way to the tail. The claws and feet are exactly the same along with its red and green heterochromia eyes. The major differences with the dragon were that it looks like a real dragon with grey wing sprouting out from its backbone.

The advance dragon gives a syllabic roar to make its appearance known to no one except for Yuto and Yasuko.

The boy was looking up to the dragon with slight widen eyes, full of shock that Yasuko still has another monster that she can play. "Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon?" he inquired. He seems skeptical that

The advance dragon flaps its wings out and flies up in the air before landing behind Yasuko. Somehow, Dark Rebellion senses it as if it is another animal threatening its territory. The two dragons are locked in a glaring contest for a short while.

"Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon's special effect activates!" Yasuko exclaimed. "When this card is Tributed summoned, I can target one monster on your field and destroy it, and you take damage equal to its ATK points!" She points at Yuto's Dark Rebellion. "And I choose to destroy your Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"

Yuto looks up to his monster with shock. "What?" As Yuto looks at his own dragon, the advance dragon opens its jaws and fires a double helix red beam twirling over to destroy Dark Rebellion. With an immense explosion, the damage done to Yuto by Yasuko was significant enough to be creating a blanket of smoke to blow away Yuto and the rest of his life points.

 **(Yuto: LP 1800** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The explosive shockwave causes Yasuko to fall back from the blast. Her back hits the ground, giving off a grunt after her new monster's abilities destroyed Dark Rebellion. The girl dusts herself off to recover as she gets up.

"What the hell?" Yasuko inquired. "But that wasn't supposed to do that?" She looks up and can see that the double helix beam has destroyed some of the walls around her, leaving a large gaping hole that was formed between two buildings and at the center. As soon as the dust and smoke subsided, Yasuko finds out that Yuto and the unconscious Shun were gone. There was no one in the alleyway. Nothing but a semi-crater that Yuto caused when he Xyz Summoned and the double helix burn marks on the walls.

She wonders why the holograms from the duel disk were causing such a havoc in the alleyway. As Yasuko wonders what happened, she can hear shouts coming from behind her, which tells her that it's time to go. Yasuko grabs her gym bag and quickly runs away from the scene before she gets into any more trouble.

* * *

After today, it was close to around two in the morning, Yasuko would have been full-asleep by the time the sky had turned dark, but it is different. She seems to be having difficulty sleeping in

Yasuko looked like she barely had any sleep let alone the messy hair. She splashes some water to her face. She can't seem to get rid of the image of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon out of her head. Yuto isn't the problem; it's Dark Rebellion. For some reason, the dragon felt very familiar, but she cannot pinpoint where. She can hear its screech shrieking into her eardrums most of the time.

She turns off the water and looks at the mirror. She sees the reflection of her face. She ponders about her duel with Yuto.

" _What the hell is going on here?"_ she thought. _"Yuto had the same face as Yuya's, only he's darker and that dragon_ …"

Yasuko had a flashback to the first time she saw the Xyz Summon of Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. _"What was that?"_ Unconsciously, she places a fist on her heart, remembering the heartbeat. "Why am I starting to feel like this is about to get weirder?" she wondered, mostly to herself. She has thoughts about who Yuto is. He was being ruthless, but merciful. Something tells her that Yuto may not who she thought he was.

Whatever it was, Yasuko dismisses it and goes back to bed.

* * *

 **Apologies for the late update, but something came up and I have to take care of it. Not to mention that I was almost burned out due to classes and stuff. Anyways, I had the time to reinvent myself so that I can make the story a lot better and make sure to check for mistakes that I've made.**

 **I hoped you are still keeping in touch with the story if you are still reading it and liked it. I appreciate your time and I will hopefully update by the end of the month. If you like it, don't forget to share some thought on how it went and have a nice day.**


	21. Chapter 21: Fusion of Old Foes

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 21: A Fusion of Old Foes_

* * *

Taking the bus ride down to the street where Yuya lives didn't last any more than ten minutes if there wasn't the traffic rush hour. Yasuko disembarks and checks her duel disk, and it was six 'fifty-three. She was a bit tired after waking up so early for Yuya's Fusion lesson. She always kept wondering how she agreed to do this lesson.

"Sheesh, can't believe I agreed to do this," Yasuko murmured. "Alright, just get to his house, wake him up, and get this lesson over with."

Yasuko approaches to his house and knocks twice before Yoko, in her bathroom robes, opens the door. "Oh, Yasuko, you're here early," she said.

"Hello, Mrs. Sakaki, is Yuya awake?" she asked.

"Uh, no, I think he's still up in his bed, why?" Yoko wondered.

"Today is his third match and I'm supposed to help him beef up his dueling," Yasuko answered. "He told me last night that I need to wake him because he tends to sleep a lot."

Yoko was still practically half-asleep, but she understands what Yasuko is telling her. "Oh, that's right," Yoko realized. "It's supposed to be his third match." Yoko gestured her to come inside. "Come on in, should I make you some breakfast while you're at it?"

Yasuko removes her shoes and shakes her head. "No thank you, I've already eaten," she said. Yasuko puts down her gym bag and uses the rock-climbing ladder stairs to get up. She wonders why Yuya's house has a rock-climbing ladder in the first place and a firefighter pole beside it. Maybe it's because Yusho prefers his son to be just as active and enthusiastic as he was. She climbs up on top to the second floor. From there, she comes across a white cat that has a brown heart-shaped pattern on it's back and heterochromia iridium eyes; one yellow right and blue left, while wearing a red tie.

"Hey there little feline thing," said Yasuko.

The cat gives a meow and rubs itself against her feet. Yasuko bends over and tries to pat the cat on its head. Unexpectedly, the cat suddenly bites her ring and middle finger before she comes even close to its fur.

"Ow!" Yasuko cried. "Damn it!" She wretches her hand away from the cat and shakes it to ease the pain. "Why does this keep happening to me every time?!" She always wonders why cats always bite her. It's not the first time a cat has ever bitten her. Yasuko's foster mother owns a cat, and it always bites her most of the time. Yasuko scowls. "At least you're not like Koko," she told it.

A small brown dog barks loudly to get her attention. Yasuko turns up and saw a dog running over to her. "Hi there, little doggy." She reaches over to rub the dog behind the ear, and it did allow her to pet it.

"Do you know where Yuya is?" Yasuko asked the dog. The little pup turns around and walks across the hallway. Yasuko stands and follows it down until she comes to the last door. The dog barks twice, telling her that this is where Yuya is sleeping.

Yasuko opens the door and finds Yuya sleeping in his gray pajamas with his cards spread around him. "I guess he sleeps like a slacker then," she assumed. She opens the door wider and comes over to wake him. Before she could, she spotted a card that seems particularly familiar to her.

"Huh?" Yasuko knees and picks up the card to see what it was. "Polymerization? When did he have this?" She glances at the sleeping Yuya on the ground. All this time she thought that Yuya never Fusion, Xyz, or Synchro Summon before in his life; yet, he has a Polymerization card all the time. Her eyes narrow in suspicions, glowing at him for possibly lying to her.

She checks the alarm clock that was on his desk and finds out that it's already seven o'clock. The dog barks loudly to get Yuya to wake up. He moaned and turns away from his dog bark. "Be quiet, En!" he exclaimed. "I'm trying to sleep!" He turns his body to be lying flat on his back.

Yasuko looks back to the Polymerization card. When she first saw Yuya's deck before the duel with the Leo Institute, she didn't think that Yuya had the required cards to make a Fusion Summon, unless it wasn't even in his own.

Yasuko places her hand on Yuya's face, particularly at the nose and the mouth. She squeezes to hold Yuya from breathing. When Yuya starts to suffocate, he immediately gasps in shock.

"Argh Yak!" Yuya suddenly cried out.

"You wake now?" Yasuko inquired which causes Yuya to turn to her with a look of confusion.

"Yasuko?" Yuya inquired. "When did you get here?"

Yasuko checks back to the alarm clock that was on the desk. "About ten minutes ago," she responded. "Anyways, get your lazy bum ass up, it's time for our lesson."

Yuya groaned and sits back up, still feeling tired from sleeping on the floor and sore for Yasuko launching on him. "Already? But it's only…" Yuya looks at his clock and was very shocked that it's already seven. "What?! 7'o clock?! What gives?!" he exclaimed. "Why did you wake me up this early!?"

Yasuko turns down to him. "Because you agreed to let me teach you the Extra Summons," she said. "Now get up, we've got work to do before your third match."

Yuya gives a low moan, still half asleep. "Aw, man," he whined. "Does this mean my mornings going to be like this?" he inquired as he gets up from the floor.

"Hey, you wanted me to teach you the Extra Deck Summons, and this is it," Yasuko commented. "Why? Can't take the pressure of waking up this early for something so simple as training?"

Yuya gives her an annoyed impression. He is expecting that his lessons with Yasuko are going to make him be doing this until the Arc League Championship. Yuya gets up and walks to the bathroom to get himself ready. "I'll be out in five minutes," he called.

While Yuya heads to the bathroom, Yasuko helps collect the cards that were lying all over the floor. Stacking them in the deck on the desk, Yasuko pause and turns back to the Polymerization card that she still has in her hand. She thinks of how Zuzu is learning to Fusion Summon for the Arc League Championship. If Sora thinks that he is an expert in Fusion Summon, then he has another thing coming. The cynical forest-green girl checks back to make sure that Yuya is still inside the bathroom to get something ready for him.

Since there is a Polymerization card, Yasuko believes it's the first thing that she is going to teach him. Fusion Summon. She grabs Yuya's deck and puts in the Polymerization card inside before stacking the rest of the cards in.

Yasuko walks out of the room casually and walks to use the firefighter pole to slide downstairs. About a few minutes later, Yuya comes down all dressed up and ready to go. "Okay, so how are we gonna do this?" he yawed.

"I know a place," said Yasuko.

* * *

Yasuko found a spot that should be suitable for training. They are traveling by bus to a remote location where there is no eyewitness, and nobody ever goes to the place if they're lucky. Not a lot of people would be up early in the morning unless they are going to work or start their day as the normal routine.

"So anyway, since Zuzu is learning Fusion Summon, I think that's where we'll start," Yasuko stated.

"What? Why Fusion?" Yuya asked. "Can you teach me Synchro or Xyz since you did them before."

Yasuko looks over to Yuya beside her seat. "Sora's stepping up her game, so I'm going to ramp up the practice session," she stated. "That's why we're going to a separate location where you and I can only be able to learn a thing about Fusion."

Yuya looks back to the view of the city skyline from a distance. "Really?" It was clear that wherever the place Yasuko is leading him to sounds like it is isolated from the public.

"I don't like drawing attention to ourselves, and I want to make sure that your training doesn't go interrupted," Yasuko stated.

"Why can we train back at the You Show Duel School?" Yuya suggested.

"To be honest, most of his classes weren't very good if you ask me," Yasuko claimed.

Yasuko and Yuya stroll down the set of stairs after walking for a total of ten minutes. "I can't complain that Shuzo is a teacher, but that's what I think," commented Yasuko.

"But he's still your teacher, can you at least be respectful?" Yuya asked.

"I am… only in class," Yasuko replied. "Anyways, we're here."

Yuya looks ahead and can see the spot where Yasuko had led him. The area looks like it is a workout park. Monkey bars are on the left corner of the wide-area while there are benches and platforms for their various exercises. On top of that, there is also an ocean view from where they are standing.

Yasuko comes over to a table and places her gym bag on it. "Now, get your duel disk out and let's get this over with," said Yasuko, taking out her forest green disk. "I'm going to show you how to do a Fusion Summon."

For the rest of the morning, Yasuko starts the lesson by going over with the basic concept of Fusion Summon. She had to give him whatever Fusion Monsters are easy for Yuya to summon and certain cards that she can let Yuya lend until the end of the day. They practice on the fundamentals of Fusion Summon all morning. One time, Yasuko hits Yuya over his head because he was dumb enough to have a Fusion monster in his Main Deck when it was specifically clear that Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz monsters go the Extra Deck.

Yasuko's field is consisting of her monsters such as Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter, and Blizzard Dragon while Yuya has his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and his Performapal Skeeter Skimmer on the field. Yasuko lets him borrow a couple of Fusion spell cards to his deck to make sure that he learns everything about the Fusion Summon. While their training is hard, it's only been nearly two hours since they started.

"Alright, here I go!" Yuya declared as he draws out the spell card. "Now I fuse Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon with my Performapal Skeeter Skimmer with my Spell card, Fusion Substitute!" From above Yuya, his two monsters float up into the swirling blue and orange vortex–

 _ERROR!_

"Eh?!" Yuya gasped, looking at his duel disk that is emitting a large red "error" sign on his screen. "What the—?! What did I do wrong?!"

Yasuko sighs in heavy disappointment and irritation. She places a hand on her face in frustration. "For the love of God, did you put the monster in the card as I _asked_?" she interrogated.

"I did," Yuya proclaimed. He takes out his deck to make sure that the Fusion monster is not in his main deck and inside the Extra Deck. "Where did I mess up?" he wondered

"Did you check the Fusion monster?" Yasuko suggested.

Yuya blinks once when he realizes he didn't check the Fusion Monster. He dials up to the Fusion Monster and read the conditions. "What!?" he gasped when he saw that the summoning condition for the monster requires the same attributes to make the Fusion Summon.

"Not every summons goes according to plan and simple," Yasuko reminded. "You must realize that they require a different kind of Fusion materials."

Yuya got angry and shouted across the field. "Now you're telling me this?!" he accused.

Yasuko turns her head away from his glare. "I thought you knew."

Yuya gives a face of disappointment, feeling down as they continue with their training.

It was a hard start for Yuya to get used to his first Extra Deck method. Yasuko demonstrates it with ease while he had some difficulties with the Spells and their effects, but as he practices it more, the better he understands it. He was going against Yasuko with her Fusion monster and seems to be getting the hang of it. It is like he's a natural.

Their training session to Fusion Summon lasts for another two hours until it was already eleven, which is the time for Yuya's third match. Yasuko calls it in and rides back to the city where Yuya goes to the duel. She can only hope that Yuya got the drill down into his thick head considering that they've been training for only about a few hours and yet Sora was teaching Zuzu all month. Their training was already starting, and Yasuko can only hope that Yuya remembers what he knows in his third match.

During the bus ride to the school, Yasuko brought snacks with her in case she gets hungry until lunch.

Yuya picks up one flower seed bag as he starts to make a question regarding Yasuko's teachings. "So, why do you want me to learn Fusion Summon?" he asked.

Yasuko chews her power bar as she looks up. "Why you asked?" she repeated and giving her shrug. "You and I are the _only_ duelists who've possess Pendulum cards other than Declan," Yasuko replied. "And on top of that, you requested my help, so I'm just doing it out of favor."

"Oh…" Yuya understood and turns his head to watch the ocean. He looks ahead to see how beautiful the ocean view is. Yasuko finds the perfect spot to practice on his dueling. Now he is sure that he can master the three summoning methods while doing the Arc League.

"Hey Yasuko, can I ask you something?" he requested.

"What is it?" Yasuko replied.

There is something that's been nagging in the back of his head. Ever since he dueled against Yasuko, there is more mystery to the girl than he knows about her. "Who taught you to do Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon?" Yuya wondered. "I mean, did anyone taught you? And how did you learn them?"

Yasuko looks out to the window viewing the images of the rolling rails and the ocean. "For some reason, I don't know," she responded.

Her answer stuns Yuya from finishing his power bar. "Eh? What?" he uttered. "What do you mean you don't know?"

Yasuko shrugs. "I just know them like they were in the back of my hand," she admitted. "I don't know _exactly_ how I do it or who taught me."

Yuya is curious about Yasuko. He thought that Yasuko has extensive knowledge about Pendulum Summon, but she doesn't seem to know where she got them from. He leans forward to ask her more. "Do you remember who taught you?" he asked.

Yasuko shakes her head. "No, I don't," she replied. "I don't even remember who taught me how to duel. Before I came to Tokyo, I was in a small village near Wangkou." She looks halfway up to the sky. "I didn't even know about Duel Monsters until I moved in."

Yuya finds the news to be even more surprising for him. There are more things that he doesn't know about Yasuko. "You don't even remember anything at all?" Yuya queried.

"Not the times when I was with my mom," Yasuko recalled.

There was something inquisitive about Yasuko that Yuya doesn't know about. At first, she was ready to talk, but she then rejected their chat. He wants to know more about what Yasuko is, but he can wait. Yuya needs to focus on preparing himself for the championship.

After taking the bus ride down through the idol, the duo walks over to the address of the third duel school that was supposed to be Yuya's match. Yasuko and Yuya were talking about Fusion Summon. To make sure that Yuya knows what he needs to know, Yasuko is allowing him to borrow her cards that can help him Fusion Summon.

"So, you're going to let me borrow these cards until the end of the day, right?" Yuya inquired.

"That's the plan," Yasuko answered. "I want them back when you beat this opponent of yours."

Yuya nodded. "Thanks for helping me with this, Yasuko," he appreciated. "I never thought you would be the one person to teach me this Fusion Summon." Another silence for both of them comes back temporarily before Yuya breaks the ice. "So, Yasuko, this is the first time you're in the duel school?" he asked.

"Yep," Yasuko replied. "My only and first time I've ever applied."

"So what made you decide to choose You Show?" Yuya questioned. "At first, you don't seem to be interested in it."

"Because You Show is freedom, and I want all that freedom without the ideals of duel antiques or standardized codes like the Leo Institute," Yasuko pointed out.

Yuya blinks in surprise. "Really? So, you enter the You-Show because we don't have a code to follow," he assumed.

"Yep," Yasuko responded before asking him, "but I've been wondering. Why did your dad decide to start a Duel School? He was a pro, wasn't he? He could've been the world-class champion if he wanted to, but instead, he chose to open a duel school."

Yuya looks at the ground, pondering the reason why Yusho wanted to build a school in the first place. "Funny, I asked him why he decided to become a teacher, and you know what dad once said to me?" he questioned.

"How so?"

"He told me that if there is no one willing to duel for the win, then we can help them duel for the love of smiles, and that's where I learned something," Yuya aforementioned. "Dad wanted to build excitement in duels for the entire people. I love to see how much smile everyone gives when they saw him." Yuya couldn't help but smile at the thought of his dad and his teachings. "I want to make everyone smile just like how he makes them smile."

A thought came to his head like a bell. Yuya glances at Yasuko. "Now that I mentioned it, I never saw you even smile."

Yasuko blinks in confusion. "What?"

Yuya gives a beam as he said, "Come on, I know everyone smiles, so I was wondering if you can do it for me because you're helping me."

Yasuko's eyes focus to the ground, unconsciously gripping her gym bag strap. "Yuya, I've never smiled before," she revealed.

For the first time in his life, Yuya has never met anyone who can smile before. "What!?" he gasped, appalled. "You mean you don't smile!?"

Yasuko nods to him in agreeing with her problem. "I just…don't smile at all," she said. "I don't know why."

Yuya gives a sobering impression. "But everyone smiles at one point when was the last time you've made a grin?" he questioned.

"Not ever," Yasuko admitted. Somehow, she stops walking with him as Yuya pause to stare at her. "For some reason, I just can't seem to smile." Yasuko then glances up. "I don't recall any of the times I felt my mouth curve up and stay there for a long time."

Yuya had wondered why. His red eyes stare to her blue ones. To hear someone like Yasuko not smiling is a thing that he cannot ignore.

"Yasuko," he said, but before he could say anything, someone else called to her name.

"Yasuko?"

She and Yuya both turn around to spot a young fifteen-year-old boy standing behind them. He was very big and bulky as Gongenzaka. His black hair with a light tan complex and large eyebrows narrows down at the two duelists. He seems to have a satisfied smirk on his face. "Well, well, well…Never thought that I would come and find you here after hearing that you transferred, Yasuko Yukihana," he sneered.

Yuya furrows his eyebrows in confusion of who the boy was while the girl narrows her eyes at him. "Oh…it's you…" she said. Then, her head tilts to the right in misunderstanding. "I'm sorry, who are you again?"

Her answer makes the boy fell in shock, clearly not remembering him. The boy gets up quickly and got to her face. "It's Mikisugi! Mikisugi Dakoda!" Mikisugi shouted. "Seriously, how come you did not remember me!?"

Upon hearing his name, Yasuko suddenly glowers her eyes at him, seems to be very familiar with him. "I met a lot of people that I don't remember their names," she pretended to be clueless of him.

"Come on, girl!" Mikisugi complained. "I was in the neighborhood! You and I went to Horyuji Academy!" he reminded.

Yuya seems surprised by how the guy knew Yasuko in the first place. "Eh?! You know Yasuko?!" he gasped.

Mikisugi postures himself boldly. "Of course, I know her," he chimed. "I was the one who beat her in the duel."

Yuya is completely stunned when he heard that Yasuko lost in a duel before. He thought that Yasuko is very good and didn't lose to anyone if they ever dueled her. He couldn't believe that she lost in a duel against someone before. "Wait, what?!" He looked over to Yasuko who is still frowning at the Mikisugi guy. "You mean, he beat you!? In a duel!?"

Mikisugi makes a small chuckle. "Of course, she lost. You didn't think that 'Yabana Yasuko of Horyuji' is unbeatable?"

Fed up with his lies, Yasuko makes a snap out of her fingers to clarify who Dakoda is. "Oh, now I remember," she said. "You were the asshole that everyone loves to pick on because they said you stink at dueling."

Mikisugi paled in embarrassment. "Uh…" He didn't have words to express his actions.

Yuya blinks in confusion. It was bewildering his head more when the guy talked something like Yabana Yasuko. He doesn't know what it means for Yasuko. "Wait, hold up," he called. "What do you mean Yabana Yasuko?" He turns to the girl. "What does that mean?"

Yasuko didn't respond to his question; she just glared at Mikisugi with intent to hurt him. "I don't what you're talking about, but why are you here, Mikisugi?"

Mikisugi seems to adjust his jacket like he is stuck-up. "Well, for your information, I'm here because I've already qualified for the Arc League Championship," he informed. "I hate to see you get on with it considering that you don't have the guts to enter any tournaments by your former duel clubmates. Just so you know, I'm now the top duelist in the Grigori Duel School."

Yasuko didn't seem to care much of what Mikisugi was telling her. "Like I give a damn," she retorted.

Mikisugi turns to glare down at her. "Don't think I've forgotten the humiliation you've put me through ever since that day." He was glowing at her with so much fury. "I came to this city to be the best, but seeing you here is very exciting. Now I can be the best and squash you like a bug." He reels back and turns around. "I'll be seeing you at the Arc League Championship." Before Yasuko could even answer to him, Mikisugi walks away with his back facing her and Yuya.

Yasuko never expects to see someone from her old school to be coming to Maiami City and join the other duelists in the Arc League Championship. It would seem that seeing him rattles her anger, but not enough to make her clench her hands.

Yuya was concern about Yasuko. If what Mikisugi said about Yasuko is true, then there is something else that he doesn't know about. "Uh, Yasuko," he called to get her attention. "My duel is about to begin, shouldn't we…" Without making delays Yasuko turns around fully and starts walking.

"Let's go," said Yasuko in a stern tone.

Yuya can only make out the surface of the girl. She doesn't seem to be the one who is very ticked easily unless it offends her.

* * *

Yuya and Yasuko walk to the duel school together, but neither of them talked for the rest of the trip. The boy was constantly looking beside him, hoping if Yasuko is alright after meeting someone familiar from her old school. Seeing Mikisugi made Yasuko very ticked, but not like how she used to on him.

"Um…Yasuko," he called to her. "Who was that guy?" he asked. "You seem to be very angry seeing him."

Yasuko didn't answer to him; she still has the same stern look on her face. Yuya understands that she refuses to answer any of his questions. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's okay, I don't need to know."

Unexpectedly, Yasuko responds to him in a stony tone, "Mikisugi was just a bully," she revealed.

Yuya blinks in surprise by her revelation. Bullies are one thing that he is aware of, but to hear Yasuko dealing with her bullies is a lot he cannot ignore about. "A bully?" Yuya inquired.

"Mikisugi Dakoda always cheats his way to get to the top even if he resorts to using some of the underhanded methods," Yasuko explained.

The more Yasuko talked about her life before being transferred, the more curious Yuya is. "But you didn't lose to him, did you?" he asked. Yasuko didn't answer back immediately, proving to Yuya that it was true about Yasuko losing to someone like Mikisugi. "Oh, so you did lose to him," he claimed.

"Only because he cheated," the girl disclosed. "He put his cards on top of his deck in the exact order that he wanted, and I hate being cheated."

Yuya's mouth forms a small gape on his face. He didn't believe it at first, but to hear Yasuko dealing with bullies on her own is very familiarizing to him. Being bullied by some people is the one thing he truly hates as well. He can't believe that Yasuko had to go through with that.

"Geez, I'm sorry to hear that," Yuya sympathized. "I didn't know you had it rough."

Yasuko isn't sure if she could tell him about her life, but maybe he'll understand what she went through before arriving at Maiami City. She takes a small glance at him. "I never was the one to be pushed around," she clarified. "Its pride that I don't like to have."

Yuya is feeling more sympathy for the girl. He knows what it was like to be bullied by someone for whatever reason and to hear Yasuko deal with someone like Mikisugi makes him be at her side even more. "Yasuko…" he murmured.

The duo turns around and heads to the small alleyway that leads them to the address of the duel school for Yuya's third match. Upon seeing the school, Yasuko isn't sure if the address that Nico Smiley give to Yuya is the right one.

"Is this the place, right?" Yasuko asked.

"Uh…" Yuya looks up, and he was confused too. "That's weird?" He takes out the small paper from his pocket to double-check the address letter. "This is the place where Nico Smile gives to me."

None of them didn't think that the location of the third match was supposed to be at a very tall creep old house with so many crows on the rooftop. It was probably two stories, not even big enough to hold a duel arena.

Yasuko walks forward to get a closer look. "This is got to be a trick," she rebuked. "There's no way this is the place." With Yuya following behind they reach to the front gate that has the name of the school. "Fortune Divination Prep School?" Yasuko reads the sign on top of the gate. "I don't think this is the one."

Yuya is worried about the location. Maybe Yasuko is right about the address of the third duel school. "Maybe," he agreed.

Suddenly, Nico Smiley appears out of nowhere wearing a very dark cloak over his head. "Welcome, Yuya, my boy," he greeted in a very creep manner.

His appearance caused Yuya to scream in fright. Yasuko ended up getting a frightful jump from Nico appearing out of nowhere. "What the hell?!" She nearly screamed before going in to jab his eyes out with her fingers, but Yuya latches onto her.

"Wait! Yasuko! It's only Nico Smiley!" Yuya tries to calm her, but the girl was struggling a lot to make sure that Nico doesn't do it again.

After they stop, they all look at Nico who was holding a lantern in one hand. "I've been waiting for you, Yuya." He turns around like a creep mysterious stranger and opens the front gate. "Enter."

While Nico heads toward the front door, Yasuko and Yuya glance at each other with curiosity before following him.

* * *

Yasuko is sure that this duel school has got to be the eeriest place that she's ever been to. The reason is that the furniture was old; the antiques are old; even the hallways themselves are old. She was sandwiched between Nico in the front and Yuya behind her as the man leads them down to the spiraling stairs. It was completely dark even with the orange light glowing from the lantern. She must be extra careful with her footsteps on this staircase

"This is got to be the creepiest thing I've ever been to," Yasuko commented.

"You could say that," Yuya agreed. "Why is the staircase so dark? They should've paid their light bill."

Yasuko keeps her eyes on the ground to make sure she doesn't misstep. "Careful," she heard Nico telling them, "The stair can be…treacherous…"

Yasuko can hear Yuya replying, "I'll be carefu –" Suddenly, Yuya missteps over a stair and ends up falling over to Yasuko. She didn't have time to react and falls with him. Together, they both descent down the staircase faster than ever. They grunt, cry, and groan as they all end rolling down the spiraling stairs faster than they could walk down.

 _THUD!_

As soon as they come to the opening, Yasuko and Yuya both hit the ground with a painful crash. Yuya groans after his mistake to fall on the ground. "What happened?" he inquired and looks up. He sees that a short girl with long curly red hair and a purple ribbon tied on top of her head and bright-green eyes. She wears a mostly purple flowing dress. She seems embarrassed because she is wearing a dress and Yuya was on the ground.

"What the?" Yuya could've sworn that he landed on something soft. He looks down and to his shock, he landed on top of Yasuko around her chest area specifically. She had a very reddish blush on her cheeks and a twitching eyebrow on the right. He realized that he landed on top of Yasuko when he tripped. "Uh…"

Little did he know that the three kids who were watching him had mixed reactions to his misfortune; Tate was shocked; and the rest of the kids, Frederick and Allie, had a deadpanned look.

"Oh dear," said Frederick. "This couldn't end well."

"He's the worst," Allie commented.

Yasuko's right eye twitches uncontrollably when Yuya is on top of her when Nico was clear to be careful with the staircase. "Yuya…you…" she growled. Her eyes glare so hard that it's hurting her eyebrows just to hold it. "ASSHOLE!" With one strike, Yasuko gives Yuya a very strong uppercut. Her punch was powerful enough to send him flying upward to the ground before landing hard to his face.

"Yawooohhh!" he cried. Yuya recovers from the ground and glares at Yasuko. "What was that for?!"

Yasuko stands back up. "You clumsy idiot!" she shouted. "You didn't watch your step!" She grits her teeth in anger, scowling hard at Yuya.

Yuya stands back up holding his red cheek where Yasuko punched. "You should talk!" he argued. "You shouldn't have got in my way after–"

Yasuko didn't give Yuya a chance to argue as she grabs his head for a headlock and crushes it with her left arm while using her right leg to push his head down and hold back his right arm in an odd angle. "OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! OW!" Yuya cries uncle as Yasuko attempts to break him, putting pressure to pull his arm off. "OW! OW! OW! OW! OW! STOP! STOP! STOP!" Yuya yelled, feeling his arm about to be pulled out of his joint. "I GIVE! I GIVE!"

Yasuko stops right there when she notices that there was a girl in front of them. Her back was turned, facing the other direction. "Uh, who the hell are you?" she asked which earn her a loud angry response from the little girl.

"Can't you see Mieru is thinking!?" the red-haired girl retorted, exclaiming to Yasuko.

"As I care," Yasuko replied before she lets go of Yuya who collapsed in pain. He had a comedian teardrop after being injured by Yasuko's strength. "What are you? The priestess?"

The little red-haired girl seems offended. "Priestess? How dare you?! I am Mieru Sentia, and I am the top duelist in this school!" she introduced. "And who are you?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes down at the girl. "Just someone who got hulled here," she answered. "And as far as I am concern…" She glances back behind Yuya as he gets up from the ground. "He's going to be the most pain in the ass task that I have to deal with."

Yuya rubs the arm as he looks at his opponent. "So uh, are we gonna duel?" he inquired.

Mieru turns to Yuya. "Oh, we'll duel," she proclaimed, pointing at him. "And that is the best way to predict whether or not you are Mieru's soulmate."

Yasuko scrutinized her eyebrow repulsively when Mieru claims to predict that Yuya is her soulmate. "Ew. Barf." Yasuko turns away and walks out of the field upstairs since most of the seats are preoccupied. "I'll be outside."

The three kids watched her leave without even going to watch Yuya duel.

"Huh? Already?" Tate asked.

"But you just got here," said Frederick.

"Yeah, shouldn't you stay and watch?" Allie inquired.

Yasuko turns up to the kids at the stands. "I'm not going to sit here and watch some priestess declaring a soulmate to this slacker." And so, she starts to ascend back upstairs.

* * *

Yasuko had difficulties getting out of the duel school since it was very dark at the staircase and the old dusty things that are in the lodge area. As she comes out into the front gate, she happens to notice that someone was standing beyond the front gates. She wonders who it was.

Upon opening the gate, Yasuko soon realizes who it was the moment she first set her gaze at her. Her eyes turn to glare venomously at the young teenage girl in front of her. "What the hell?" she retorted. It was unbelievable for Yasuko to see someone familiar after all this time and none of them were just as hateful as the girl in front of her.

The girl is as tall as Yuya Sakaki and has a blonde mid-length hair that downs below her shoulder line to the midback. Her light purple eyes and long, pale blonde hair worn loose with a small amount pulled into a bun on the left side of her head seem like it was familiar to Yasuko. She seems to be wearing a white blouse with black pants and shoes.

"Well, I didn't think I would meet you in all places," said the girl. "Yasuko Yukihana."

Yasuko was glaring hard at the girl. "Melania Herman," she addressed.

The two girls seem to be staring at each other for quite a long time. The wind blows their shirts and hair whooshing behind their head.

Melania puts a hand behind her hip and makes a casual smile to see Yasuko. "My my, it's been three years since we last saw each other at the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, hasn't it?"

"It was," Yasuko affirmed.

"How are you?" Melania asked. "I can't believe that you joined a duel school."

Yasuko's eyes narrowed. "Don't think I give a crap about this school," she snapped. "I hate their antics and habits."

Melania held her had high. "Oh, right, you never were the one to be joining the duel school in the first place," she replied.

"How does it feel to be one step closer to be some pro?" Yasuko asked.

Melania smiled and turned her head the other way. "Oh, you know, more duels, more victories," she replied.

"What are you doing here?" Yasuko asked.

Melania turns back to her. "I came because I'm here for the Arc League Championship," she answered. "Because I've won the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, I'm only one more until I can fully attain the status of being a pro."

Yasuko raised an eyebrow in suspicions. "But I thought that Frontier Games made you a pro already."

Melania shook her head to disagree. "No, that was just the first phase for a junior to be a pro, I have to participate in the Arc League Championship to fully attain that pro status," she explained. "Are you entering the Arc League Championship?"

Yasuko didn't answer back to Melania; she just glares at the girl. "Oh, that's right," Melania sneered. "You didn't want any part of these things; you hate the pressure."

Yasuko's hand clenches together to a fist as she proclaimed, "That was three years ago."

"And now, you don't seem to be fully interested in being a pro, aren't you?" Melania replied. "You just hate the attention; you'd rather tend to be quiet for most of your life."

Yasuko's anger is getting the best of her and unclenched her fists to calm herself. "Then I suppose you're doing this for fame?"

Melania smirked. "Uh duh? I know my way to the top, and I will do everything in my power to get to where I want to be," she proclaimed. "I suppose you're going to enter as well, huh?" Yasuko didn't respond to her. She was expecting her to openly declare that she is going to be in it.

Melania seems to get on to her intent and knows what Yasuko is thinking right now. "Oh, you haven't qualified yet, have you?" she questioned. "Aw, that's too bad, I thought maybe you could've entered the championship and we can duel each other just like the Frontier Games."

Yasuko's temper was spiking upward and clench her hands. "Not like before," she stated. "I thought it was the right thing to trust you to watch my back, but you were just using me to get yourself to where you were three years ago." Her eyes glower down at the girl. "I won't make that same mistake again."

Melania gives her a "hmph" and turns around. "Well, you've got about a week until the Arc League Championship. So, I doubt you have the galls to show up, even if you can get six consecutive wins," she asserted. "See ya later, alligator." And with that, the blonde girl walks out of her way without looking back.

Yasuko never realized how much hate it spiked up through her head. She is displaying a fire of vengeance all those years ago. First was the guy whom bullied her and then the blonde from the Frontier Games. "Believe me, Melania," she murmured. "Seeing you here got me a reason for the Arc League Championship."

* * *

 **I hoped you are enjoying your day because I am feeling tired. Anyways, this was planned out. I do thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. I know it's going to be a bit long and too many words and too long dialogues, but I am doing the best to make sure that the story is awesome than before. I hope you all have a nice day.**


	22. Chapter 22: A Smiling Promise

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 22: A Smiling Promise_

* * *

Yuya wakes up early the next morning because he needs to get ready for the final duel to get into the Arc League Championship. He picks up his deck and looks at it. He recalled everything that Yasuko taught him. To Fusion Summon, all he needed was a spell that can create one monster from his Extra Deck; however, the spell card he used was Polymerization which was the card that Zuzu needed for her deck. He didn't know how the Polymerization got into his deck.

All the other kids including Sora and Zuzu were all surprised by his Pendulum to Fusion Summon; a Pendulum-Fusion, as Tate dubbed.

When he first Pendulum-Fusion Summon, Yuya came to realize that the summon must be what Yasuko was telling him about: using Pendulum Summon to his advantage by using the Extra Deck method. While the kids were boasting him about his Pendulum-Fusion, Yuya remembered how Yasuko looked infuriated when he reached to the gates. He thought that she was disappointed, but there was something else. When he asked her what is wrong, Yasuko just turned around and asked him to give back the cards that he borrowed because she needed them for the Arc League Championship.

Yuya was taken by surprise that Yasuko has finally decided to join the Arc League Championship. He can't help but wonder why Yasuko would be entering when the Arc League Championship is coming in about a week. The girl refuses to talk as she made the request. Even if she can get is consecutive matches, the odds are getting six official matches in less than a week would be extremely slim and difficult.

" _Yasuko…what made you think about going to the Arc League Championship when the deadline is in a week?"_ He thought as he looks outside the window. Yuya turns back down to his deck. " _Still, even if you are entering, I too must enter. My future will be determined in this duel."_

He thinks hard about how much progress he's made it through to get into the Arc League Championship. " _It doesn't matter who my opponent is, I have to believe in myself and my Dueltaining!"_ He makes a determined smirk to prove himself worthy of carrying out his dad's legacy to become a Pro-Duelist.

"But first!" Yuya then runs out to slide down the fire pole. "I'll have to eat mom's pancakes! And there's no way to start the day without thirty stacks of awesome pancakes for my thirtieth victory!" Yuya hopes to have something to eat from his mother's delicious pancakes; however, there was someone else cooking something from the oven, and it was Yasuko.

"Screw your thirty pancakes, Yuya," Yasuko stated as she cooks something in the frying pan. "Only scrambled eggs today." She finishes the food and prepares the plate to divide them into two sets of scrambled eggs: one for herself, and one for Yuya.

Yuya is puzzled when he saw her already finished with cooking scrambled eggs. "Yasuko?" He happens to notice that Yasuko is practically the only one in the house. He briefly looks around the kitchen for anyone else who is home. "Where's mom, and isn't Sora here today?"

Yasuko scoops up some rice and puts them on the plate as she carries them to the table. "Your mother left after I got here, and Sora is taking a day off," she answered.

Yuya takes his seat and examines the rice and scrambled eggs in front of him. "I didn't know you can cook scrambled eggs?" he questioned.

"It's my first time, really," Yasuko divulged.

Yuya blinked with confusion written on his face.

Yasuko turns her head all the way around to face the stove. "Sorry if this was a little bit too much," she apologized.

Yuya lifts his head slightly to see what was behind the counter. From what he can tell, his garbage pin was full of cracked shells and burnt eggs that could be smelled from three feet away.

Yasuko is sure that her face with turning a bit of cringe. "I never cooked scrambled eggs before," she said. "But I left some money on the counter to make it all up."

Yuya grimaces before looking at the food on his plate. It was a good thing that Yasuko managed to get the scrambled eggs right to serve him; otherwise; she would have to give him brunt food over her many attempts to cook something so simple.

"That's okay. You don't have to leave some money for me. I haven't had eggs every often too." Yuya grabs his spoon to start eating while the girl did the same. They eat their breakfast as time went by. After sipping his orange juice, Yuya starts the conversation.

"Yasuko." Before Yuya could ask away, Yasuko anticipates his question and cuts in.

"You want to know why I've decided to join the Arc League, right?"

Yuya was surprised before he affirms his statement. "Yeah, why have you decided to go to the Arc League?" he questioned her reason. "If you wanted to join in the first place, you could've just asked me, and I can have Nico Smiley set it up earlier, but I think it's a bit late to do that."

Yasuko closes her eyes and turns away. "Nah, Nico got the job done," she assured. "He already set up six matches for me."

Yuya raises his eyebrows. "Still, what made you decide to join?" he asked.

Yasuko stops eating her breakfast and sighed knowing that she can at least tell Yuya the purpose of her participation. "If you must know, someone was going to the Arc League, so I've got a score to settle," she stated.

The boy caught on to what Yasuko was talking about. "A score to settle. You mean that Mikisugi guy we met yesterday?" he questioned.

Yasuko wonders if Yuya knows that Melania Herman, the winner of the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, is coming to the Arc League Championship. It was a famous tournament that was hosted three years ago, and it was broadcasted across the nation. To keep it simple and not disclose anything relating Melania Herman, she pretends that it was Mikisugi, the big boy she knew back at her old school.

"Uh…probably," Yasuko lied.

Yuya got a scowl on his face thinking about the Mikisugi person. After seeing how Mikisugi treated Yasuko, he knew right then that he disliked the boy.

"You said that he was a bully," he said. "Was he _your_ bully?" Yuya is questioning her to tell him something about Mikisugi considering that he too has issues with bullies.

Yasuko looks down at her plate. "Mikisugi Dakoda picks on the weakest ones to be on top of the game," she explained. "When I dueled him, I first thought it was my heart to resolve the duel, but then…" Her eyes narrow down, thinking hard about the first time she dueled him and when she saw someone else duel Mikisugi.

Yasuko looks up to show Yuya how much hate she is showing. "I spotted him doing the same method in a duel, and that's when I realized I was cheated."

Yuya blinks in awe. "Then his Mikisugi guy only cheated to beat you?" he asked.

"Of course," Yasuko replied. "It's like I said. He put the cards in an order that he wanted because he didn't want to shuffle."

Yuya is still questioning her regarding her past and her old school. "And what does he mean by 'Yabana Yasuko of Horyuji'?" he continued to ask Yasuko questions. "When he spoke of that name, you seem to hate it."

Yasuko's eyes narrow and frown to the table. She is getting enough questions from the boy as his direction was going away from the current reason why she came to the house in the first place. "Do you have to ask?" she responded with a question of her own.

Yuya was able to piece a picture together about Yasuko, but only as a small portion. He wonders what her childhood was like.

"It's just…that name is getting me all thinking, was that because you've never smiled before in your life," Yuya enlightened. "When you said that you've never smiled, I was curious about why you can't smile?"

Yasuko's eyes shunned away from Yuya's gaze "It's the truth, Yuya," she affirmed flatly. "I've never smile before."

Yuya's mouth makes a small gaping hole. "Not even once?" he asked, almost breathless.

In return, the girl returns to look at Yuya and shakes her head as she confirmed, "Never."

Yasuko's story didn't seem skeptical to Yuya at all. If what Yasuko said about not smiling is true, then that could mean Yasuko never had a very good childhood. He doesn't know how much pain it must've been for her. He can't help but sympathize with the girl.

He then begins to think hard about him and her. Sure, Yasuko isn't always well-attached, but maybe if she can learn to smile like he and everyone else, then Yasuko wouldn't have to be the person that she is, sitting at the table.

Yuya then had an idea and looks back at the girl. "Then why not you come and watch me duel today," Yuya declared suddenly.

Surprised, Yasuko looked at him with confusion. "Huh?"

Yuya makes the brightest beam that he can make to the girl. "Why not you come with me and watch my final duel today," he suggested. "That way, you can see how far I've gotten now that I've learned to Fusion Summon, and then maybe you'll see how much fun Dueling can be."

Yasuko doesn't have time to be watching Yuya's duel as she needs to get to her first match for the Arc League to settle her score with Melania, but then he did request her to teach him everything about Extra Deck, so she can't turn away from that.

"As long as I am on time for my first duel, then so be it," she said. "Nico emailed me about my six matches, and I have to attend to them at a specific time."

Yuya didn't know that her first match is today on his last match. "Then what time will it start?"

"At three," Yasuko revealed. "Now let's move, we're wasting time." Yasuko grabs her plate to put them into the sink as she heads out to the front door, leaving Yuya to his thoughts of what to do for Yasuko.

* * *

During the trip to his final match for the Arc League Championship, the two duelists are taking the bus ride down to the destination. They set beside each other; Yasuko at the window, and Yuya beside her on the other seat. The full morning of the sun shines down on the two as the ride takes about less than ten minutes to get to where they are.

Yasuko and Yuya exit out of the bus as the vehicle drop them off at the bus stop right next to the set of stairs that leads them uphill. As much as how she hates long stairways, Yasuko is sure that Yuya will be going up with her.

They begin to journey uphill to the place of their destination.

Yasuko is sure that sweat is starting to build behind her back with every step she makes until she and Yuya finally come across the duel school that is going to be Yuya's final match.

Yuya is confused about his final match taking place at the old Japanese dojo complex with the one sign that is very familiar to him.

 _Strong Dojo_

The duel school seems to be like one of the dojo places that Yasuko knew back in Tokyo. She turns around to take in the sight of Maiami City. For such a long trip up, it was a sight to behold with the coastal city lying next to the ocean.

"Nice place," Yasuko commented.

"Yasuko, what are we doing here?" Yuya asked pointing at the sign next to them. "This is Strong Dojo."

The girl turns to face him. "This is where you will be dueling," she said.

Nico Smiley jumps out of nowhere, surprising both Yasuko and Yuya. "And what's more important is to know who your opponent is."

"Wait a minute," Yuya realized. "Don't tell me my next battle is who I think it is…" He can't even let himself finish his sentence grasping to the idea of dueling someone who goes to the school.

"You bet it is," Yasuko confirmed.

"You should know," Nico added. "It was Yasuko who suggested this in the first place."

As Nico walked ahead, Yuya glances at Yasuko with shock. "You suggested this?" he questioned.

"Let's get inside and talk about something." Yasuko proceeds to walk behind Nico with Yuya following behind.

Upon entering the dojo, Yasuko finds the details to be exactly like one of the dojos back at Tokyo. The sliding doorframe seems to be refurbished. The gravels on the ground crunches with every step they take. The small trees are very well-trimmed.

On the patio in front of the dojo is Gongenzaka Strong who was looking very impatient with their arrival. "What took ya so long, Yuya?!" His gruff voice boomed to Yasuko's ears. "Gong's been waiting!"

Yuya seems concern when his next opponent is in front of him. He turns to Yasuko. "Yasuko, are you telling me that I have to duel Gongenzaka?"

"Of course," Yasuko confirmed.

Nico faces Yuya. "You see, when I emailed Yukihana the six matches that she needs to qualify for the Arc League, she once told me that you and Gongenzaka have a history, then an idea came up," he explained.

"But I don't understand, I've already battled Gongenzaka many times," said Yuya, clearly confused. "What's it going to prove if I battle him now?"

Nico steps forward to explain the whole situation. "I know that you two are best friends. When your famous father Yusho Sakaki, suddenly disappeared before his big match, and you were ridiculed because of his actions. Gongenzaka defended and protected you against everyone's ridicule." Nico had small tears streaming out of his eyes like a water hose. "Every time I think about his kindness and compassion—" Nico had to get a handkerchief to wipe his eyes, "—I cannot help but be profoundly moved by such beautiful friendship!"

The man placed both hands on Yuya's shoulder and said, "But even if you two are best friends, you must forget about your friendship! If you want to become a pro, you must treat him as your enemy!"

Despite Nico's encouragement, Yuya couldn't think of dueling against someone who has always been by his side.

Yasuko turns to face him. "When was the last time you guys took something seriously? I don't suppose you haven't cuz he's like…your friend." Yuya hesitates on her statement, proving to be true for the girl.

"Ah, I see…" said Yasuko, nodding once. "So, you didn't have any serious matches, then?" She turns her head away. "I can't believe you're even this _soft_ when I dueled you."

Yuya narrows his eyes. "Soft?" he inquired.

"Yasuko does have a point." Gongenzaka agreed which cause the girl and the boy to turn to him. "It's true that we've battled many times before, but those matches were for training and fun. And in the back of my mind, I was thinking about how hurt you were after your daddy disappeared." He closes his eyes to let the thought of Yuya's sadness come back to him. "I couldn't duel you wholeheartedly, but when I saw Yasuko Yukihana dueling you with all her power and might, I was convinced." With such passion, Gongenzaka raises his hand in front of him. "All of that holding back made me into something that didn't have the heart to be a real winner!"

Yasuko turns back to Yuya. "In translation, Gong believes that because he was holding back for you made his resolve too weak, and the only way to restore it is by dueling you seriously," she explained.

"So then, it's my fault that I've made him weak?" Yuya inquired.

Gongenzaka nodded. "Like that battle with the Leo Institute kid, with one win and one loss, the third match was a deciding match between the You-Show and the LDS," he said. "In the end, I couldn't beat him."

Yuya steps forward to take a stand in front of Gongenzaka. "But you had a tie," he pointed out.

"It doesn't matter whether or not it was a tie," Yasuko argued. "The point is that Gong is weak, so he's moving on to step up his game."

Gongenzaka nodded again in agreement. "The girl's right, Yuya. I couldn't win because my heart was weak. It feels like I lost that match. I got soft; too used to holding back," he admitted. "So now, I'm going back to getting tough starting with myself."

Nico comes forward to add something else for Yuya to know. "In fact, since Gongenzaka is so dedicated in getting tough with himself that he is risking everything, even his entrance to the Arc League Championship," he added. "In any case, he would need one more win in order to get the 60%-win rate, yet he refused the challenges from any other duelists until you were in the same position!" The news regarding Gongenzaka's win ratio shocked Yuya. He didn't think that his best friend would go that far to risk himself to be in the same standing. "As you know, you also needed one more win to enter which is something that we both want, right? Of course, you do! The winner of this match will decide who will get the spot in the Arc League Championship!"

Yuya is very distressed with the choice. If he wins, then he gets to enter, but not Gongenzaka; however, if Gongenzaka wins, then he may never enter the championship. The stakes are very high for the match. "Nico!" Yuya exclaimed. "How could you let him do this!?"

"I didn't force him to do anything!" Gongenzaka objected. "If I didn't, I could never have a serious match with you."

He smirks as he looks down at his friend. "Since I am going to be the next leader of this dojo, this battle will be a test of my new and improved Steadfast Dueling! I, the man Gongenzaka, is going all out pal! I've abandoned all my compassion and will defeat you until I splat you like an itty-bitty little June bug! Prepare yourself, Yuya Sakaki!"

Yuya is taken back by Gongenzaka's sheer determination to get a serious match out of him. Even if he wants to win to get into the Arc League Championship, his resolve is contested of what is more important; his best friend or the one-way ticket to the Arc League Championship. The thought of either one makes him bite his lower lips in frustration.

Yasuko turns her head to glance Yuya. She was inquiring how Yuya is going to make it through. He seems conflicted. There was no way she is going to have him be doubting what is more important and not letting her training with him be a waste. She turns to Gongenzaka. "Gong, can I have ten minutes with Yuya?" she requested.

Gongenzaka's glare matches Yasuko's narrowing eyes, seeming thinking of protesting, but seeing her eyes narrowing further makes him believe that what Yasuko is going to do for Yuya will be able to get him to duel seriously.

"Ten minutes," Gongenzaka agreed. "Nothing more." And with that he turns around and walks inside the big dojo house followed by Nico, leaving only Yasuko and Yuya isolated.

"Let's walk," Yasuko suddenly declared which confuses Yuya.

* * *

Yasuko needs to know about Yuya's history with Gongenzaka. She knows that they are best friends, and she wants to know how it came to be. She listens to Yuya enlightening everything about him and Gongenzaka. Since Yasuko had her fair share with bullies, maybe it would be alright for Yuya to tell her a little thing about him.

Yuya and Yasuko take a tour around the big school. It was very admirable to Yasuko's taste. The large Japanese garden is maintained by the students who are wearing the dojo uniforms.

"I was only 11 when my dad disappeared," Yuya began. "I was being teased and made fun of because I was going to duel Strong Ishijima, and how my dad was a coward. People keep making fun of me all the time until Gongenzaka stood up and defended me."

Yasuko is sure that her heart got a bit heavy. She didn't think Yuya Sakaki would be picked on because Yusho disappeared three years ago. Listening to his story makes Yasuko think there is something that she and Yuya have in common.

"So, you had a fair share of bullies, huh?" Yasuko asked.

Yuya faces to her. "It was because of Gongenzaka that I was able to make it this far," he said. "Without him and taking me to his dojo, I wouldn't have called for a better friend."

Yasuko turns her head the other way, her eyes decrease from narrowing to softening her gaze. "It's quite rare to find someone who had their fair share of being picked on," she said. "But even if he is your best friend, I cannot let that get in the way of teaching you the Extra Deck summoning methods."

"But Yasuko," Yuya protested. "Gongenzaka is my best friend; I can't just beat him and let him back out on the championship."

Yasuko's eyes narrow to Yuya over his undesired resolve. "You're no good to me unless you can show me that you are willing to enter this Arc League without pitting yourself over friendship," she reaffirmed.

Yuya narrows his eyes to a frown. "So, what about you, then?" he asked. "If you were in _my_ position and have to duel someone who you considered a friend, would you do it?"

"Yes," Yasuko responded coldly. "But I don't have friends, so why'd you ask me if I feel the same conflict you're having?"

Yuya didn't say anything back. He was thinking hard about his match. The thought of losing either his best friend or his chance in the Arc League makes him turn his head away with a conflicted scowl.

Yasuko didn't believe his resolve to beat his friend is staggering and she isn't going to let all the work she did for him go down. She needs to be hard and firm, but for some reason, she also needs to be on his level and try to convince him. Since Yuya had bullies when he was younger, Yasuko thinks she can disclose something of her past.

"Yuya, there's something I should tell you about myself," Yasuko stated. Even if he wouldn't want to listen, perhaps Yasuko believes that it is best to reveal a secret. "I'm an orphan."

The word _orphan_ got Yuya's attention pretty hard. Yuya gasped in surprise. The conflicting feelings in his heart seem to stop at the instant. The thought of hearing Yasuko an orphan makes him jerked his head around to face the girl, eye-to-eye.

"I don't know who my parents were or where I came from. I came from a small village called Wangkou in China before Chloe took me in after I moved to this country," Yasuko continued. "I don't understand anything, and that kind of sentiment made Mikisugi Dakodo be _my_ bully,"

Yuya blinks in surprise as Yasuko continued with her life. "I think it was about…three years after Chloe became my foster mother? I had a hard time adjusting to my new life. Sometimes, I live with Chloe's parents because she sometimes has to take photo trips for a few days before returning. When I got involved with Duel Monsters, I was a natural. I was scoring so many wins that Mikisugi came to me and challenge me to a duel.

"He cheated me and took my Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon as payment for my loss. I felt nothing but defeat. I feel like giving up on dueling because of that, but then… somewhere deep inside of me… I just…snapped," she paused to reflect on what she experiences. "I just snapped from my defeat, and when I dueled him a week later, I crushed him in front of my old primary school."

Yasuko looks halfway in the air, recalling anything that she had in her duel with Mikisugi. "I think it was the first time that I did an Extra Deck method, maybe a Synchro Summon?"

Yuya knew how arrogant Mikisugi is after he met him, but he never expects that Yasuko to be ruthless before. "Your first Synchro Summon?" he asked.

Yasuko glances at him. "Of course, but what I didn't expect is that people want to duel me after my first Synchro Summon. And then, I got myself involved with a dueling club at Horyuji Academy. I didn't mind about the people who were in my dueling club, and I refuse to duel anyone all the time, but when they provoke me a bit. Well…let's just say, I wasn't the nicest person to be toyed with."

Yasuko and Yuya turn around to walk through the garden grass. "Along the way, I just happened to know how to do a Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon even before it was publicly announced by the Leo Corp, which I didn't know about. They wanted to beat me and before you know it, I rose up to be the top of my school, given with a nickname, 'Yabana Yasuko of Horyuji.' In terminology, it means, 'merciless.' My dueling would always crush the living hell out of anyone who would try to push me, pick on me, blackmail me, or threatened me."

For someone calm to speak out, Yuya felt like he just swallowed a lump from his throat. He can't imagine what Yasuko was like before she was transferred. " _Wow, I didn't think she was like that,"_ he thought.

The duo stops in front of the cherry tree where the pink blossoms bloom at the Springtime. "But I hate that name," Yasuko admitted. "Because of my dueling, people at my school were afraid of me, even some of my dueling club members. I was a mystery to everyone. They don't know anything about me and that's why I never had friends."She looks at the cherry tree leaves as the winds blow some of the pedals away. "All the time I have to deal with is without anyone. It's always me that has to pick myself back up. Chloe won't be there for me all the time, so why should I be soft?"

Yuya sees how blue Yasuko's gaze looked when she is staring at the cherry tree. He never knew Yasuko had it rough. Maybe even rougher than him. He couldn't help but face the fact that Yasuko had to deal with all those things on her own and without anyone to back her. He reflects to how her childhood compares to his. Unlike Yasuko, he had Gongenzaka to protect him, but it was always him that had to do the heavy lifting. Yuya didn't even pick himself back up.

"Won't be better if you were, you know, nice to everyone you meet?" Yuya suggested. "I mean, if you can, at least, get to know them, then maybe you could have friends from your old school."

"You don't understand, Yuya," Yasuko rebuked. "I hold a fearsome reputation that strikes at the hearts and minds of every student at Horyuji." Her eyes narrow slightly just by thinking back of her life. "That's pretty much why I was transferred here in the first place," she said. "A few months ago, Chloe and her parents talked with me and suggested I needed a fresh start. It was my foster mother, Chloe who recommended me to transfer to Maiami City in the first place."

The boy is saddened to hear Yasuko's story. In spite of her best talents, Yasuko is only just a girl with problems. Just hearing her story makes Yuya want to owe Yasuko even more than ever. It was a moment of clarity that he has to do something to make Yasuko feel like she was anew. He believes that Yasuko deserves to be appreciated and be happy.

"Well," Yuya proposed which catches Yasuko's attention. "Since you said that you don't have friends, then I will be your friend."

Yasuko felt like it was deja-vu when Yuya is declaring himself as her friend. "Okay, now you're speaking like Allie," she said.

"Still, hearing you having no friends is something I cannot ignore, Yasuko," Yuya declared. "I know you're not nice sometimes, but I still want to let you know that you don't have to be alone." He makes a bright smile out of his mouth. "Because we have a thing saying at You-Show, 'Anyone who is with You-Show is a friend of ours,' and I for one think of you as my friend."

Yasuko blinks with astonishment. "Really?" she inquired.

Yuya nodded. "Of course, I know the others will also accept you eventually. If you cannot smile, then I'll just to do the best that I can to make you smile. When you get into the Arc League, make sure to not lose until you duel me, and that way, I'll give you everything that I have in my Dueltainment to make you smile just like everyone else." His spirit is lifting after talking with Yasuko as he continued. "I want everyone to smile, whether it's friends or foes, and I also want to see you smile too. I'll take any chance I get to see you have a small curve on your face." He raises his fist. "And don't think that it's just words; that's a promise. I promise you that I will make you smile, Yasuko Yukihana."

Yasuko finds his determination to be very touching and very admirable. She never met anyone like Yuya Sakaki who is very determined and devoted. She is sure that her mouth makes a small twitch. "Good luck with that, Yuya Sakaki," she replied in a very calm tone, feeling more relaxed with her talk to Yuya.

"And don't worry," Yuya added. "After my final match, I'll come over to watch all your six matches."

"Uh, Yuya," Yasuko replied. "You don't have to."

Yuya shook his head. "Nah, I want to," he said.

Yasuko doesn't show much emotion for his commitment, but she is amused by how enthusiastic Yuya got after she talked to him. Yuya is getting hyped for the Arc League Championship. Maybe it's affecting her too. "Very well then," Yasuko affirmed. "Are you ready now? We're already twelve minutes late."

Yuya's smile never fades away like it as stuck there and nodded excitingly. "I'm ready," he said. "And I now know what I must do; I have to defeat Gongenzaka and get my place into the Arc League Championship if I'm ever going to make you smile."

In response, Yasuko makes a small "hmph" as her token of anticipation. And with that, the two starts walking to the huge dojo house in the center.

* * *

 **It is also a part of the storyline. That way, they can teach each other the flaws that the other character doesn't know about. Anyways, I hope you are all having a good day and take the time to read this chapter through. If you like what you reading, then that s good. I appreciate it. Stay tuned folks.**


	23. Chapter 23: Fusion Lesson Complete

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 23: Fusion Lesson Complete; Yuya Sakaki vs Gongenzaka Strong_

* * *

Yasuko and Yuya stand in front of the two massive sliding doors where the dojo warehouse is.

Yuya is mentally preparing himself for what is beyond the doors. If Gongenzaka is going out against him, then he too can't hold back against him even if he is his best friend.

"Yuya." The voice of Yasuko calls to him. Yuya turns around and faces the forest green-haired girl. "You sure you're ready for this?" Yasuko asked.

Yuya makes a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," he comforted. "I know what I must do. I'm still going to beat Gongenzaka and earn my spot in the Arc League Championship."

Yasuko turns back to the doors. "Just don't take too long though, I'm not the person to wait for results."

Yuya makes an amusing snort. "I won't," he said.

With one deep inhale, Yuya exhales to let the adrenaline flow through him. He grabs the doorframe and slides it open. The dojo stadium is very big compared to You-Show's duel arena with two lines of dojo student audiences all sitting in two straight lines. Nico Smiley is sitting in seiza pose next to a short old man with olive hair and mustache. His big red nose reminds Yasuko of clowns. She can't be sure if he's born that way or that he had a cold.

Yasuko and Yuya spot Gongenzaka standing in front of the two people who are sitting on the front porch of the stadium. They walk forward to stand beside Gongenzaka and bows their head.

"Forgive us for being tardy, Mr. Strong," Yasuko apologized. "I was having a little talk with Yuya. As you can see, he is learning to be on my level."

Behind Yasuko, Gongenzaka gasped with surprised hearing Yuya is her student.

Mr. Strong bows his head. "That is alright," he said. "As students learn from teachers, it is important to also learn the values of one's knowledge that the other does not have." He lifts his head along with Yasuko and Yuya. "I can see that this boy is finally ready by the look on his eyes."

Yuya nodded. "It was because of her that I am prepared for the final duel," he assured.

Mr. Strong bowed his head again. "Very well then." As he lifts his head, Mr. Strong points his finger to Yasuko. "You there, what is your name?"

"Yasuko Yukihana."

"Because you are the only one who showed up for this match," said Mr. Strong, gesturing his hand to the right side next to him, "I strongly urge you to sit here and watch, but do not say a word to him on for that is the final test here in the dojo."

Yasuko nodded. "I can assure you," she replied, glancing over to Yuya. "You won't be expecting me to say anything to him until the duel is over." And so, Yasuko walks forward and sits in a similar seiza sitting post next to the grandmaster of the dojo.

Nico makes an explanation of the situation. "I can see that you have a strong resolve, Yuya," he said. "That's good, Yuya my boy. That is what you need for the final match. If you are to kick down the young man who has always been your loyal ally and protector, you will prevent him from entering the Arc League Championship." Yasuko didn't need Nico to remind him of what is at stake; Yuya knows the risk.

"And that is all that I need," Nico continued. "If you want to become a pro, then you have to be stronger by being solo. Gongenzaka wasn't the only one who was protecting you until now. There were many others who encouraged you. Winning is easier when you are cheered on by friends and family. You gain strength by their cheers and encouragement; yet, you haven't been able to learn how to gain the confidence from within.

"Every pro must unleash their inner strength even from away games. A pro must be able to triumph alone. And to further fortify your resolve, I have strictly forbidden your friends and family from cheering you on to see if you can win on your own," Nico gives a short speech. "Of course, this girl here didn't seem to listen to my request and just goes on with the usual thing."

Yasuko glances across to Nico. "You won't expect me to cheer him; I hate cheering," she said.

"Not that we've got that out of the way, I give you, Mr. Strong," Nico introduced to the man beside him.

Mr. Strong makes a loud noise before standing up in front of the two duelists. "When two duelists clash, it not only polishes the soul, but it also cultivates the character through hard work. A character that stands still and the soul that stands strong. That is the way of this here dojo. By clashing head-on fair and square in this final battle, I want you to polish your soul even further. You will battle on with all your might, no matter the outcome." He expresses the words that need to be done for the two duelists to remember. "Good luck, young warriors! Action Field on! I activate the Action Field Spell! Sword Cemetery!"

On his word, the ARC system is activated to begin transforming the dojo stadium into the Action Field Spell; **Sword Cemetery**. The bright light shines the entire dojo stadium until the field changes to a barren wasteland with fallen samurai swords on the ground.

Upon activation, Yasuko recognizes the arena to be the same field spell where Yabia and Gongenzaka dueled in. "Sword Cemetery?" she inquired. "Why here?" She wonders why the Field Spell would be the same field where Gongenzaka dueled in.

"This field…looks familiar," said Yuya, looking around the barren wasteland.

"That's right, Yuya," said Gongenzaka, standing on top of a higher platform. "This is the same field where I battled Yabia Blade from the Leo Institute."

Yuya is confused of how the field is going to take place in the field from the duel between You-Show and LDS. "Wait a minute, why'd you chose this field?" he asked.

Gongenzaka has a satisfied smile on his face. "You will find out soon enough," he stated. "Here we go! Let's do this!" With that Gongenzaka activates his silver duel disk with the orange blade glowing out. In response, Yuya does the same with his red duel disk and yellow blade.

"Duelists meet on the battlefield!" Gongenzaka starts to chant as Yuya follows along.

"Along with their monsters', they kicked the ground and reach for the sky!" Yuya chanted.

"To move to the field!" Gongenzaka recited.

"Witness, the greatest evolution of dueling!" They chorused. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yuya Sakaki: LP 4000**

 **VS**

 **Gongenzaka Strong: LP: 4000**

" _ **DUEL!"**_

The giant bubble holding the Action Cards pops in the air spreading all over the field, signifying the start of the duel.

 **Turn 1: Gongenzaka (5x cards)**

"I'll go first!" Gongenzaka declared. He takes out a card and places it on his blade.

"I summon Superheavy Samurai Flutist from my hand!" Instead of drawing, Gongenzaka Normal Summons **Superheavy Samurai Flutist (ATK 500/DEF 1000)** , a mechanical samurai monster that has the head of a flute who is holding one in its little finger.

"On the turn this card was summoned, I can tribute it to Special Summon a 'Superheavy Samurai'! I Special Summon Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei in Defense Position!" Because the mechanical flute samurai was Normal Summoned this turn, Gongenzaka Tributes the monster to Special Summon his monster: **Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei (ATK 1000/DEF 3500)** in Defense Position; a mechanical samurai with dark blue and orange armor spinning his staff before brandishing it.

"I end my turn!" Gongenzaka concluded.

 **Turn 2: Yuya (5x cards)**

Yasuko keeps her eyes focused on the duel, watching every card Gongenzaka is going to play. IN the back of her head, she had to admit that Gongenzaka has gotten better since the match with Yabia Blade.

As she watches, Yasuko can hear some kind of rustle coming from upstairs. She could have sworn that she hears something like, "What should I do," followed by a very loud slap, possibly from Zuzu's fan. She eyeballs to the vent. She can assume that maybe all of Yuya's friends and family are probably hiding somewhere in the dojo when Nico _specifically_ told them not to come for Yuya. Her eyes narrowed at the vents. She isn't having it again and certainly not with the principal and the three kids come barging in while the duel is ongoing.

Yasuko raises her hand high for the two men beside her to see it. "Excuse me, do you guys have a bathroom around here?" she requested. Mr. Strong sighed before calling to one of his students up to guide the girl to one of the dojo's restroom.

Meanwhile, Yuya hasn't started his turn by the time Yasuko left to "use" the restroom. He was still having mixed emotions regarding his opponent and the match.

" _I can't believe that for the final match, why does it have to be Gongenzaka of all places?"_ Yuya thought. " _It was all because of him that I've made it this far. If he hadn't been able to take to his dojo and battle some of his students, I wouldn't have gotten the experience and knowledge of battling here."_ Even though it was crucial, the boy still can't grasp onto the situation.

"But now, I've got to stop the guy who got me here in the first place," Yuya said sadly. He looks like was about to go down until Yasuko's words ring back to his ear.

 _All the time I have to deal with is without anyone. It's always me that has to pick myself back up. Chloe won't be there for me all the time, so why should I be soft?_

Yuya suddenly made a small gasp when he heard Yasuko's words again like a chiming bell. He thought back about Yasuko telling him how she had to deal with all the things like the bullies and being feared at her old school by herself. Yasuko duels everyone on her own, and not once did anyone cheers for her. Unlike him, Yasuko never relies on anyone.

" _That's right!"_ Yuya realized in his mind. " _I've been relying too much on my friends and family. They've always been there to support me."_ He takes a sneaky glance over to where Yasuko was sitting, only to see her returning to her sitting pose after a short trip to the restroom.

" _But Yasuko…"_ Yuya reminisced. " _Yasuko had to deal with everything all by herself. She didn't need her mother or her grandparents to be there for her all the time and do her work; she did all by herself, even in dueling."_ His eyes narrow at the thought about himself being weak without anyone cheering him on. " _If Yasuko can do it, then so can I!"_

By looking down at his palm, Yuya turns it into a fist with such determination. " _I can't back down in this final match! I have to get in the Arc League to become a pro, and I will make Yasuko smile with my Dueling!"_ He thinks hard about his promise to make the girl smile and that is what he's going to do. Yuya swore it in his heart that he won't break that promise to make Yasuko smile. To do that, Yuya must throw away all the doubts he's been feeling about dueling Gongenzaka.

"Here I go! I draw!" With one quick swipe, Yuya draws a card from his deck. He looks at it and it was a Pendulum card. "I summon Performapal Silver Claw!" Yuya Normal Summons **Performapal Silver Claw (ATK 1800/DEF 700)** , a silver-blue furry wolf with a bow tie and dog leash sprouting chains underneath its neck. Its two front paws have claws are like three meters long compared to real knives.

As the wolf runs across the field, Yuya hops onto it and rides along with his monster. "Let's go, Silver Claw!" He and his monster run across the field with such speed despite Yuya being taller than the wolf.

Gongenzaka can see the fire of fortitude being lighted. He smirks as he watches Yuya find an Action Card already. "That's it, Yuya!" Gongenzaka boomed. "That's the fire that I want to see! Don't hold back! Give me everything you've got!"

"And I will!" Yuya responded. "Because this is bad news for you! I activate the Action Spell, Extreme Sword!" Yuya plays the Action Spell Card; **Extreme Sword**. "Silver Claw gains 1000 ATK points until the end of my turn!" Yuya uses the Action Card to increase his wolf.

 **(Performapal Silver Claw: ATK 1800** → **2800)**

While doing so, Yuya then finds another Action Card and takes it. "Must be my lucky break!" he said. "I'm activating the Action Spell Card, Over Sword!" He inserts the Action Spell Card, **Over Sword** , into his disk. "It gives my Performapal Silver Claw additional 500 ATK points!" With the second Action Card boost, the wolf gains more attack points.

 **(Performapal Silver Claw: ATK 2800** → **3300)**

Yuya stops his wolf and hops off to prepare for a battle. "Battle! Performapal Silver Claw attacks Big Benkei" he declared, pointing at the mechanical orange samurai. "Silver Claw's effect activates! It gains 300 ATK points until the end of the Battle Phase!" Because of its special effect, the wolf is now stronger than the mechanical samurai.

 **(Performapal Silver Claw: ATK 3300** → **3600)**

The wolf glows blue aura from around its body before leaping up to take down the heavy samurai monster. Before it can even land a blow, Gongenzaka has prepared a counterattack. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but by sending my Superheavy Samurai Soulfire to the graveyard, I can activate its special effect!" By sending **Superheavy Samurai Soulfire** in his hand to the Graveyard, the fire samurai armor appears before Big Benkei as it clashes with the blue flaming wolf coming down at the monster. "This armor negates your attack; tough luck Silver Claw! And then Big Benkei loses 800 DEF points, and that is a small price to pay!"

 **(Superheavy Samurai Big Benkei: DEF 3500** → **2700)**

The wolf returns to its master after the failed attempt to destroy the massive mechanical samurai blocking his way. Yuya makes a disgusted sound. "Oh great, I can't destroy his monster, and at the end of the battle, the two Action cards and Silver Claw's effect wears off and Silver Claw's attack points return to normal."

 **(Performapal Silver Claw: ATK 3600** → **1800)**

Even though he failed to destroy the samurai, the least Yuya can do is finish his turn. "I end my turn!" he concluded.

 **Turn 3: Gongenzaka (2x cards)**

The duel between best friends is starting to skyrocket. Yasuko knows that Yuya is still giving it all that he has, but he is going to be having a harder time to get past through Gongenzaka's Steadfast Dueling.

"Just as we expected," said Nico. "Yuya attacks aggressively while Gongenzaka defends his ground confidently."

Mr. Strong nodded. "Correct," he said. "No matter how much his opponents move and rush around and about, my son is still immovable and not distracted. He is upholding the noble tradition of the Steadfast Dueling." He raises his head higher to get the sight of his son. "Nicely done, Gong! Continue to prove yourself, my worthy successor! Earn your tile into the Arc League Championship with your Steadfast Dueling!"

The girl was watching the duel with a narrowed look on her face. She is expecting Yuya to show her the result of their lesson. " _Come on, Yuya,"_ she thought. " _Where's your Fusion Summon?"_

Gongenzaka smirks at his father's remark. "You don't have to worry that, Father! Trust me!" he boomed. "We still got a long way though, and Yuya hasn't seen the half of what I've got in stored for him."

Yuya held his ground with a serious demeanor. "Bring it on, Gongenzaka," he dared.

"Okay, here I go! I draw!" With one powerful swing, Gongenzaka draws a card so fast that the winds were picked up from his strength. He takes a look at it and sees that it is the card that he needs to beat Yuya. "I drew it!" he exclaimed.

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the card that Gongenzaka drew, wondering what kind of card it is as she watches him make his turn. "To defeat his friend, I, the man Gongenzaka, have no choice but to shed his old self!" Gongenzaka exclaimed. "Which is why I'm going to throw down the curveball."

Yuya is baffled of what his friend was saying until he makes his move. "Watch this daddy, your boy is putting a whole new twist to the new and improved Steadfast Dueling!" Gongenzaka raises his hand to show everyone who was probably watching the duel the card he drew before slamming it to the blade. "I summon the Level 2 Tuner monster, Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter!" Gongenzaka Normal Summons his Tuner monster, **Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter (ATK 300/DEF 600)**. On the field comes out a smaller mechanical red samurai that is even short than the wolf.

The revelation of Gongenzaka's Tuner monster shocks not only Mr. Strong but also Yuya. Their mouths were wide open like their jaws are completely broken by the appearance of a Tuner monster.

Yasuko was stunned by Gongenzaka's new card. "A Tuner Monster?" she whispered.

"I tune my Level 2 Tuner monster Superheavy Samurai Trumpeter with my Level 8 Big Benkei in order to Synchro Summon!" Gongenzaka declared as his small red samurai blows a big horn to signal the arrival of a new monster before it disperses into two glowing green rings. They scan the massive mechanical warrior until there was nothing solid except for the nine glowing orbs in the center.

 **(8 + 2 = 10)**

" _Malevolent God! Along with the roar of the thousand blades, appear on the field in a whirling sandstorm! I_ _ **Synchro Summon!**_ _Appear on the front lines! Level 10 Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!_ " Gongenzaka Synchro Summons his new monster, **Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo (ATK 2400/DEF 3800)** in Defense Position. The rings burst out a powerful stream of white light before a massive dark turquoise warlord with a giant naginata staff weapon slams to the field behind Gongenzaka in a sitting post.

The sight of Gongenzaka's new monster seems to strike Yuya with fear, realizing that his monster cannot beat such a tyrant like Gongenzaka's. "I can't believe it, Gongenzaka did a Synchro Summon," he uttered.

Nico and Mr. Strong still had the shocking look on their faces when they saw Gongenzaka's Synchro Summon.

"Oh, my gracious me!" Nico gasped.

"Can it be?!" Mr. Strong gasped too.

Yasuko didn't even get the chance to teach Yuya the art of Synchro Summon because he was getting used to Fusion Summon. She never expects the big bushy eyebrow boy she met during the You Show-LDS duel to improve majorly. "Well shit," she cursed under her breath.

Gongenzaka steps down from the high platform and onto the playing field with his monster. "This is it, Yuya," he stated. "This is where the real battle begins between the two of us, and your dream ends."

Yuya grits his teeth in anticipation, preparing to brace himself for the hardest duel ever. Just as things were about to get intense, Mr. Strong suddenly raises his hand. "Stop right there!" he called. "I hereby declare that my son, Gongenzaka, lost this match!" His announcement shocks the entire room.

Yasuko turns her eyes to glare at the old man for forcing the end of the duel without getting the result. "What?"

Mr. Strong stands up with a stony face. "An unwavering heart is crucial to the Steadfast Dueling," he pointed out before he points a finger at his son. "You lost the moment you stole a technique from a different school in order to win!" he accuses Gongenzaka how much he would go through just to win.

"Hold it right there, Mr. Strong," Yasuko announced, interrupting the old man. "We're not canceling the duel right here and now without my results." The girl didn't get the chance to see how Yuya has improved in his Fusion Summon from his last duel against Meiru, and she isn't going to let an old geezer stop it. "Your son didn't steal any technique from a different school; he learned that technique from a different duelist."

Mr. Strong turns his eyes to glare at the girl. "And just what do you know about stealing and learning a technique? I know my son very well enough to not be dishonorable to be using the same technique from another school."

Yasuko sighed. He remains seated as she makes a small statement to her own opinion. "Mr. Strong, I am teaching Yuya Sakaki all the Extra Deck summoning methods because he asked me to," she explained. "In fact, he begged me to do it."

Gongenzaka let out a small gasp when he heard Yasuko announcing her words. He was surprised by her defense to him.

"And there is no shame to learn the technique of a different style from one another. That's the way of life," said Yasuko.

Gongenzaka realized why Yasuko proclaimed about Yuya learning from her. Like him, Yuya was learning to use the Extra Decks to his advantage. He steps up to add more for Yasuko. "It's true, dad!" he proclaimed. "I didn't steal no Synchro Summon technique; I begged him to teach it to me!" His words shock his father, and Yuya was curious about who teach Gongenzaka to Synchro Summon.

"Learned it? But who taught him?" Yuya then realizes there was someone else who can do a perfect Synchro Summon besides Yasuko or Declan. "You mean…"

Gongenzaka nodded. "Yaiba Blade," he revealed.

Yasuko narrows her eyes, thinking back to the LDS Synchro duelist she met back at the You-Show. "You mean that guy who was always holding that kendo sword from the LDS?" she questioned. "But he was the guy who beat you."

"And that is why I've decided to learn everything Yaiba did it," said Gongenzaka. "Don't you believe it is natural for someone to learn a technique from a different duelist, Yasuko?" he questions the girl whether it's right or wrong to learn something even if they are knowledgeable from the enemy.

"Of course," Yasuko agreed. "It's the same thing in life; you suck at something, you learned it from someone else who is better at it."

Gongenzaka nodded. "It's just like Yukihana said, I want to learn the Synchro Summon technique because I want to improve the new Steadfast Dueling to a whole new level!"

Mr. Strong raise an eyebrow with curiosity. "A New Steadfast Dueling?" he inquired.

"Dueling evolves every day, and we can't stay still, daddy!" Gongenzaka proclaimed, bringing his fist to his chest. "Why, our Steadfast Dueling's got to keep on changing, growing, and evolving! And if we don't move along with everyone else, then it's going to die like the dinosaurs!" Gongenzaka turns back to his opponent. "I want you to decide this match!"

With that being said, Gongenzaka resumes with the duel. "Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo can use his DEF points to attack while in Defense Position!" he explained.

Yuya knows that Gongenzaka is going to attack and hops back onto his wolf to find more Action Cards while Gongenzaka makes a move. "Now, let's show them what we got, Susanowo! Battle! Susanowo, attack Performapal Silver Claw!" The giant samurai lifts its giant naginata weapon to slash the wolf. "Kusanagi Sword Slash!" With one big swing, the massive mechanical samurai warlord brings its naginata across to swing a very powerful backlash against the blue-grey wolf.

Yuya runs with his wolf until he finds one Action Card. He takes and inserts the Action Spell Card; **Evasion** , to his duel disk. "I activate the Action Spell, Evasion!" Yuya declared. "This card negates one of your monster's attack this turn!

"Oh yeah?" Gongenzaka growled before getting ahead of Yuya and his monster. "Well, we'll see about that since I activate Susanowo's other special effect! When Susanowo is in Defense Position and there are no Spell Cards in his Graveyard, I can pay 500 life points to target one Spell Card from his opponent's Graveyard" He braces himself as he pays the small toll to get one spell card that is in Yuya's graveyard.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 4000** → **3500)**

The spell card he selects is one of Yuya's Action Spell Cards that were in the graveyard is **Over Sword**. "I activate the Action Spell Card; Over Sword." As explained before, the warlord samurai gains 500 additional attack points.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo: ATK 2400** → **2900)**

"Sorry pal, but you're not avoiding Susanowo's attack! When its effect targets one monster, you cannot negate its attack!" Gongenzaka added which shocked Yuya that he didn't know about the Action Card's other effect when he picked it. The sonic wave grows bigger to the point where it is big enough to destroy the grey wolf and Yuya back against the field. He takes a major hit along with his life points.

 **(Yuya: LP 4000** → **2000)**

"I end my turn," Gongenzaka ends his turn.

 **Turn 4: Yuya (4x cards)**

Yasuko is watching Yuya getting pummeled by Gongenzaka and his Synchro Monster. The only monster that is powerful enough to beat it is his Fusion monster.

Yuya gets back up. He stares at his friend and the Synchro Monster in front of him. "Gotta hand it to ya, Gongenzaka, that was incredible," he commented. "I'm surprised that you were able to master Synchro Summon." His mouth curves up to a satisfied smile. "But I too have a reason why I cannot lose this match!" He places a finger on his deck. "My turn! Draw!"

Yuya draws a card and looks down to see that he draws **Stargazer Magician**. He looks at his hand consisting of his ace monster, **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon** , the Spell Card; **Pendulum Halt** , **Performapal Lizardraw** , and **Performapal Camelump**.

Taking out two cards from his hand, Yuya shows them to Gongenzaka. "I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 2 Performapal Camelump and the Scale 6 Performapal Lizardraw! It's time to me to take control of this duel starting now!" And with that he uses **Performapal Camelump (Scale 2)** and **Performapal Lizardraw (Scale 6)** in his Pendulum Zones, creating the rainbow "PENDULUM" word on his blade.

From between Yuya comes out two monsters that rose into the air, a yellow camel with a magician hat and bow tie, and a red lizard holding a stick with its frill shape like a collar. " _Swing! Pendulum of the Soul! Carve the arc of the ether!_ I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _!_ Come forth, my faithful monster servants! _"_ Yuya Pendulum Summons his **Stargazer Magician (ATK 1200/DEF 2400)** from his hand and **Performapal Silver Claw** from his Extra Deck in Defense Position. "Stargazer Magician from my hand!" he exclaimed. "And Performapal Silver Claw from my Extra Deck!"

Yasuko is, sure enough, Yuya is solidifying his defenses against the warlord samurai monster since it can attack even if it's in Defense Position. " _Smart move_." Her words ring in her head.

"I end my turn!" Yuya concluded.

 **Turn 5: Gongenzaka (2x cards)**

"It won't work!" Gongenzaka argued. "Your defenses aren't strong enough to shut me out of the picture!" He places a hand on his deck. "It's my turn now! I draw!" With one big swipe, Gongenzaka draws a card that causes the winds to pick up again. He checks it and places it on his duel disk. "I summon the Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer!" Gongenzaka Normal Summons **Superheavy Samurai Soulpiercer (ATK 1200/DEF 0)** , a blue armored monster that is not a samurai but more of a crossbow wrist gun attachment. "And I equip it to my Superheavy Samurai Warlord Sunsanowo!" The crossbow samurai merges with the massive warlord samurai to his right arm and attaches itself to make it into a wrist weapon.

"Due to Soulspiercer's special effect, when Susanowo attack your monster in Defense Position, you take damage equal to the differences between my monster's ATK points and your monster's DEF points!" Gongenzaka explained, much to Yuya's dismay.

"What?!" Yuya gasped. "Aw, no way!"

"Battle! Susanowo, attack Silver Claw!" Gongenzaka commended. "Soulpiercer, fire!"

The massive warlord samurai monster aims the crossbow wrist gun at the wolf monster. The strings reel back before it fires a very fast arrow straight for the wolf.

Yuya quickly runs ahead to find another Action Card on the field and quickly swipes in the Action Spell card; **Miracle**. "I activate the Action Spell Card; Miracle!" Yuya declared. "My monster's destruction is negated, and I take half the damage!" The wolf is protected by a rainbow force field, but even if the monster is safe, it doesn't save Yuya's live points from taking the hit.

 **(Yuya: LP 2000** → **450)**

The arrow blast creates a shockwave that flies over to Yuya. After that, he starts to collapse to his knees in exhaustion. He pants and sweats from his forehead.

"You're more stubborn than a mule, buddy!" Gongenzaka retorted. "I end my turn!"

 **Turn 6: Yuya (2x cards)**

The stakes aver very high for Yuya. He has only two cards in his hand and he is running low on his life points. Even if the odds are against him, Yasuko is certain that he will make it through as he is been trained for this very moment.

Yasuko watches him get back up and holds a smile on his face. "Wow, you've stepped up your game," commented Yuya.

"What did you expect," said Gongenzaka. "I vowed to never go easy on you, even if you're taking lessons from Yukihana."

Yuya's smiled expanded wider where he is satisfied to duel against Gongenzaka. "Then I better step it up," he declared. "It's high time to use my imaginations! My turn! Draw!" Yuya draws a card and sees that he draws **Performapal Whim Witch**.

"Yes! I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _! Come forth, my monsters to swing into action_!" Yuya announced as he subsequently Pendulum Summons **Performapal Whim Witch (ATK 800/DEF 800)**. On his field is a small pink feline with a cape that has star designs holding a catnip tool as her weapon.

"Whim Witch's special effect counts as 2 tribute for a Tribute Summon of a Pendulum Monster, so I tribute Whim Witch to Tribute Summon Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya explained as he sent his cat witch to the graveyard to Tribute Summon **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon** **(ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. As soon as the pink cat with disappears, the red-scaled dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes and glowing orbs on the backbone and forehead appears in front of Yuya.

"I activate Performapal Lizardraw's Pendulum Effect!" Yuya suddenly announced, which surprises Yasuko and Gongenzaka. "I draw one card from my deck, and this card goes back to the deck!" On the left of Yuya's pendulum scale, the lizard disappears as he shuffled it back to the deck. "It's showtime, Gongenzaka! I draw!" Yuya draws a card with stars sparking from the movement. He checks what he has drawn, and it turns out to be the one exact card that He needs.

"I set the Scale 4 Performapal Trump Witch in the Pendulum Scale!" And so Yuya finishes his Pendulum Scale by fitting in his **Performapal Trump Witch (Scale 4)** to the left side of the Pendulum Zone.

From the left side, a blonde girl in pigtails who wields a staff with a skull on top wearing a black visor mask over her eyes wearing a blue dress and blue boots and a pointy hat that seems to be bending back floats up to take the lizard gentlemen's place beside the yellow camel with her respective Pendulum Scale number below her.

Gongenzaka didn't seem convinced about Yuya's latest move. "Who cares! That's pointless!" he rebuked. "Even if you can reset the Pendulum Scale, you can only Pendulum Summon once on your turn!"

Yasuko agrees with Gongenzaka mentally. Pendulum Summon can only be used once during the turn of whoever's Pendulum cards are set. It's one of the backlashes of using a Pendulum Summon on your turn.

Regardless, Yuya continues with his move. "I don't need to Pendulum Summon; I just need Performapal Trump Witch's pendulum effect!" he boasted. "Once per turn, I can use Trump Witch's Pendulum Effect to Fusion Summon one monster from my Extra Deck without using a Fusion spell!" At once, the trump witch swings her staff forward to unleash the magic that had the black and red suit card symbols down to the ground to create the swirling portal.

"Say what?!" Gongenzaka gasped in shock.

Yasuko is also surprised by Yuya's ability to utilize his Pendulum effect to boost his Fusion power. "He's Fusion Summoning just by using the Pendulum Effect?" she inquired. Yasuko pays close attention to him as Yuya continues with his move.

"I fuse Stargazer Magician and Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya declared. " _Wielder of mysterious powers become the bright light and dwell in the eyes of the dragon!_ I _**Fusion Summon**_ _! Come forth! Arcane dragon wielder of ancient magic! Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!_ " Yuya chanted before the star magician and the pendulum dragon fuses together in the swirling vortex to Fusion Summon **Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2000)**.

This is the first time Yasuko's ever seen Rune-Eyes. The new Odd-Eyes is leaner and more mechanized with the large golden circle backbone and thinner arms with three fingers. The eyes from the dragon are one blue and one gold patch on the left side.

The dragon looks magnificent to Yasuko as she stares at Rune-Eyes. Like stars twinkling, her iris gleams with amazement at the new dragon that Yuya somehow obtained after he Fusion Summoned. "He's doing it…" she commented.

"Oh howdy! When did Yuya get that upgrade?!" Gongenzaka gasped after seeing his best friend form a Fusion monster.

"Next, I activate the Spell, Pendulum Halt!" Yuya activates the **Pendulum Halt** Spell Card. "If there are 3 or more face-up Pendulum monsters in my Extra Deck with different names, I get to draw 2 cards!" Yuya draws two cards from his deck and looks at them, and one of them happens to be the one card that can change the duel.

Yuya hops on the back standing at the center of the golden backbone circle. He then puts on his goggles and prepares himself. "Time for this start to shine! Let's battle! Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Susanowo!" Yuya declared. "I activate Performapal Camelump's Pendulum Effect! It lowers Susanowo's DEF points by 800, and Rune-Eyes can deal piercing damage!"

From the yellow camel with a hat and bow tie, it blows a bubble that flows across to splash the warlord monster, which lowers its Defense points.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo: DEF 3800 → 3000)**

"But because Susanowo's DEF points are equal to Rune-Eyes' ATK points, neither monsters can't be destroyed," Yasuko pointed out.

"Fire! Shiny Burst!" Yuya declared. The golden circle opens up three ports the distributes electricity before connecting in the shape of a triangle. Rune-Eyes then unleashes a very powerful blue beam straight at the samurai warlord who uses its naginata to block the blue beam.

"It's no use," Gongenzaka pointed out. "Even if you've taken Susanowo down to 3000 DEF points, your Rune-Eyes can't destroy it because its ATK points aren't higher enough."

Yuya smirks at Gongenzaka's rebuke. "Are you sure about that?" he dared which cause the big young man to widen his eyes. "When I Fusion Summon with a Spellcaster, the number of times Rune-Eyes an attack depends on the Level of the Spellcaster that I just Fusion Summoned! And Stargazer was Level 5, that means it can attack 3 times!"

Yasuko's eyes slowly grow wider, surprised at how Yuya is enabling himself to overtake Gongenzaka's monster. "And because Camelump's Pendulum Effect allows it to lower Susanowo's DEF points by 800, Yuya can attack twice. If he attacks to deal piercing and direct damage, Yuya will be able to deal 3800 points of damage," she calculated the strategy of Yuya's play.

Like before, the yellow camel blows a bubble to splash it in front of the samurai warlord which loses its defense points even more.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo: DEF 3000** → **2200)**

"Okay, Rune-Eyes! Attack the second time!" Yuya pointed at the samurai warlord. "Continuous Shiny Burst!" Rune-Eyes fires a slightly bigger blue beam straight at Susanowo.

Gongenzaka isn't allowing it to happen and makes a counterattack. "By paying 500 life points, Susanowo's effect lets me activate the Action Spell Card; Evasion from your graveyard!" As he did before, Gongenzaka pays a small toll to use the Action Spell Card; **Evasion** that Yuya uses earlier.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 3500** → **3000)**

When Gongenzaka uses Susanowo's effect, the samurai warlord slices the blue beam in halve, negating the attack. Because of that, its Defense points return to normal.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo: DEF 2200** → **3000)**

Even so, Yuya isn't giving up just yet. "I'm not through! Camelump's Pendulum Effect lets it lose 800 DEF points!" The yellow camel blows a bubble and it splashes all over the samurai warlord.

 **(Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo: DEF 3000** → **2200)**

"Ah shucks," Gongenzaka whined.

"Attack for the third time, Rune-Eyes!" Yuya orders Rune-Eyes to attack the monster again, and this time, the blue beam struck through destroying the samurai warlord and deal damage to Gongenzaka.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 3000** → **2200)**

Yasuko's thin line on her mouth twitch once after seeing Yuya making it through to destroy the samurai warlord, but she didn't expect Gongenzaka to make a comeback. "Whatever!" he rebuked. "I send Superheavy Samurai Soulbeads from my hand to the graveyard to activate its effect! I can Special Summon one destroyed monster in Attack Position!" As such, Gongenzaka sends **Superheavy Samurai Soulbeads** to the graveyard to revive his **Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo**.

Yuya didn't seem to be perplexed by the resurrection of Gongenzaka's strongest monster in his deck. He was amused by how much Gongenzaka is putting it in all in the duel. "You are like a very big castle wall," he commented, removing his goggles. "I have to dig deeper to get through to you if I'm going to win."

 _THUMP-THUMP!_

Yuya's heart gives a loud beat that echoes to his ears. He can feel something from his Extra Deck calling to him. He hears it. The roar of a new dragon calling upon him.

" _I hear it…"_ Yuya thought. " _I can hear it."_ He hardens his gaze as he makes the move already. His pendant makes a small glow around the edges when the powers of Pendulum calls to him.

"Alright, here we go!" Yuya declared as he takes out one more card from his hand to activate the Quick-Play Spell Card, **Flash Fusion**. "From my hand, I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Flash Fusion! I can fuse Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Performapal Silver Claw to Fusion Summon one Fusion monster from my Extra Deck!" he declared.

"What?!" Gongenzaka gasped. "You get to make another Fusion Summon one more time!"

Yasuko is taken back by Yuya's declaration. Not only does he make a Fusion Summon, but he's also preparing to make another Fusion Summon during his Battle Phase. Her mouth forms a small gape, feeling flabbergasted by his words.

"He's doing another Fusion Summon, and in the middle of the Battle Phase?" she inquired. Yasuko wonders just how is Yuya going to be able to Fusion Summon another monster.

Yuya's Rune-Eyes and blue silver wolf floats up into the air glowing gold from the dragon and blue from the silver claw to be consumed by the swirling blue and orange vortex forming in the air.

" _Prideful silver wolf Become one with the arcane dragon to create a new power! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _! Come forth! The ferocious dragon with luminous feral eyes! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!_ " Yuya chanted as he Fusion Summons Rune-Eyes and the blue wolf to Special Summon **Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2000)**. It was amazing how Yuya's Rune-Eyes transformed into a monster that now bears a khaki bone armor similar to the bone armor from her phantom dragon, only it has fur come out from the bottom of the tail. The eye color has changed on the right side is bright gold. What's even more distinguishing from the rest of the Odd-Eyes is that Beast-Eyes seems to have a third eye at the center forehead.

The sight of Beast-Eyes is very absorbing to Yasuko. Not only has Yuya demonstrated his progress with Fusion Summon, but he also enhanced the use of Fusion Summon. Her eyes were starting at Beast-Eyes with wide blue gaze. "My god," she commented.

Yuya hops on Beast-Eyes as he starts to ride on top of it. "Battle!" Yuya declared. "Beast Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Superheavy Samurai Warlord Susanowo!" Beast-Eyes opens his mouth as it charges directly to Gongenzaka and his monster who is looking a bit afraid of Yuya's new capabilities. " _Hell Dive Burst_!" Beast-Eyes unleashes its energy to emit a powerful flamethrower at the samurai warlord. Gongenzaka braces himself as the monster is instantly destroyed by the fire as it burns away his life points.

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 2200** → **1600)**

Beast-Eyes lands to the ground on both feet as Yuya pressed on with his final move. "Now I activate Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's special effect! When this card destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the ATK points of a Beast-Type monster I used to Special Summon it! Silver Claw has 1800 ATK points, that means you take 1800 points of damage!"

Yasuko held a cynical, but satisfied snort when the results of Yuya's training are paying off. "And that's game," she concluded as she watches Beast-Eyes fires one more beam that is shaped like a dragon to smack Gongenzaka like a punch to send him falling back to his loss."

 **(Gongenzaka: LP 1600** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yuya Sakaki**

The Action Field disperses into thin air, returning everything to the dojo stadium room with the rest of the audience looking down after Gongenzaka's defeat. Yasuko stands up and approaches her "student" who looks tired after being victorious.

"I've gotta say, Sakaki; I am very impressed," said Yasuko. "I never imagine seeing you do a Fusion Summon on your battle phase."

Yuya smiled. "Yeah," he said. "I didn't think that I was able to pull it off either."

Yasuko places both hands behind her back. "First time for everything isn't so bad," she said. "But the important thing is, you've made it to the Arc League."

Yuya nodded and the two heard loud knocking on the other side of the stadium. As the audience leaves, they notice that there was a wooden broom jamming the sliding door that was having a hard time trying to make a budge.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Yasuko remembered as she comes toward the sliding door and removes it with one quick swipe. At once, the three kids and Shuzo all fell after sliding the door to fast.

Tate gets up quick and glares at Yasuko. "You locked us out on purpose!" he accused.

"What is wrong with you!?" Frederick exclaimed.

"Why would you do that, Yasuko!" Allie shouted back.

"I needed Yuya to focus on the duel, and I don't want anybody to say a single word coming out to him," Yasuko pointed out. "You honestly think I didn't know that you guys were hiding up in the vent on the other side of the room?" Her eyes narrow slightly to the three youngsters.

Yuya notices them after they got in. "Hey guys," he said. "What are you…"

"Yuya!" The three kids all cheered, surrounding him.

"That was awesome, you won!" Tate beamed.

"You were amazing! So incredible!" Allie added

"I got the shivers!" Frederick cheered.

Yuya seems relieved that he saw some familiar faces after a long day of dueling. "You guys, you were watching me?"

Allie nodded. "Yeah! We were watching the whole duel, only we couldn't let you know it," she explained.

"Because Nico said we couldn't go, but then Yasuko didn't listen, and she locked the door before we even got the chance to come out and watch you inside," Tate stated.

Yoko Sakaki and Zuzu then come by shortly after. "If you want to become like your dad, even you must learn how to win in away games," she tipped.

"Mom?" Yuya inquired.

Shuzo then comes up between Yasuko and Yuya with a fiery passion after seeing the duel. "You did it! And I'm all fired up! My blood is boiling!" he boomed.

Sora comes by afterward with a big lollipop in his mouth. "Even I have to admit it, I got a bit excited," he confessed, his mouth half-full of the lollipop in his mouth. "Using your Pendulum Effect to a Fusion Summon was a pretty sweet move!"

Yasuko steps forward beside Sora. "It was only for a short time that Yuya finally mastered Fusion Summon," said Yasuko.

Sora comes to realize something about Yasuko. "So, _you_ taught him how to Fusion Summon?" he asked.

Yasuko's narrowed eyes didn't leave her gaze from the boy. "Yeah, I did," she said.

Zuzu steps forward in front of Yuya. "That was very sweet of you, Yasuko," she admitted. "Thanks for helping him."

Yasuko blinks at Zuzu once before she shrugs. "It's only a favor," she said. Yasuko checks her duel disk to see that it's already past 2 meaning that her first duel is in about an hour. "I gotta go," Yasuko excused, walking away from everyone else who was watching her leave the dojo.

"You're leaving right now?" Zuzu asked.

"My first match to the Arc League is in about an hour, I can't stay here any longer," Yasuko divulged. "Anyways, I'll be seeing you soon. Oh, and Yuya," she called to the boy.

Yuya has his attention to the girl. "Yasuko?" he wondered.

Yasuko glances over her shoulder halfway to look to him directly in the eye. "Don't forget about that promise you made," she said.

"Wait, what?" Zuzu gasped in surprise with a sudden red blush rolling to her cheekbones.

Yuya seems to know what Yasuko was talking about and gives her a very bright beam. "Don't sweat it; I haven't forgotten my promise. I swear I will make you smile at the Arc League, just you wait," he vowed, eager to make it happen.

In return, the girl nodded once. "Then I hope you have something for me at the Arc League because I am not some person who can just smile randomly. Oh, and congrats on completing your final match," Yasuko commended before walking out of the dojo.

As the rest of them watch her leave, Zuzu can't help but wonder what Yasuko and Yuya mean about a promise. "What promise?" she asked.

Yuya faces her with a beam of excitement. "I promise to Yasuko that I can make her smile, so that is what I'm going to do," he said.

Zuzu was surprised over Yuya's statement. "You're going to make her smile?" she inquired.

In return, Yuya nodded. "Mm. If Yasuko can't smile, then there's another thing coming," he said. "At the Arc league, I'm going to make her smile."

Tate had a skeptical look. "That is _if_ she can make it," he pointed out.

"Yeah, the Arc League Championship is in a week, and all she needs is six consecutive wins," Frederick reminded. "Do you think she'll make it before the deadline?"

Everyone turns to the door. Even from inside the dojo, they could see the back of Yasuko walking to the steps of the dojo.

Yuya smiles while watching her walk. "I know Yasuko is going to make it," he affirmed. "Because if there is one thing I do know about Yasuko, is that she is never the one to easily give up." And with all that he could say, the least he can do is hope for the better that Yasuko is going to win all six matches before the deadline.

* * *

 **Over 21,000 views! Alright! That is something I'd never get to reach in a while!**

 **Now if you're wondering about the duel, but I have my reasons to change the way how the duel worked because when I watched it the first time, it made me cringe, so I decided to modify it to the most logical option.**

 **Anyways, I hoped you are all having a good day. I am thankful to your readers for taking the time to read this story through. Anyways, get ready. The next chapters are going to be full of blasts and, I can't wait to use whatever there is in the franchise. If you like what you are reading so far, then thank you.**

 **Stay tuned!**


	24. Chapter 24: Bird of Prey

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 24: Bird of Prey; Yasuko Yukihana vs Rikka Dashiki_

* * *

Yasuko is in a hurry to get to her first official duel match for the Arc League Championship. The timing distances between the dojo and the match is approximately twelve minutes if the bus can make there in time.

The bus makes a halt, and the girl jumps out before paying the toll. Checking to her duel disk, she makes a hard left and runs as fast as she can. "Damn it, why did I ever agree to watch him in the first place?" Yasuko wondered herself.

She runs across the street before the light turns red, and Yasuko keeps on moving until she stops to the address of her first match. She looks up to make sure that it is the right address and the right building that explains everything on the sign.

 _Sonic Wing Duel School_

"Well, this is the place," said Yasuko as she stops at the front door. For some reason, Yasuko is starting to feel insecure about the first official match. All she wants is to get the duel over with as quickly as possible without drawing attention to herself, but she can only hope that there won't be many people watching her. The only reason why she's doing this is that she wants to get payback to Melania Herman. She has no interest in being in a famous tournament such as the Arc League Championship.

Yasuko opens the front door. Upon entering, there is the front porch like a typical reception office. A lady was sitting on the computer typing on some paperwork that needs to be done.

The reception lady notices Yasuko walking in. "Oh, hi, can I help you?" she asked.

Yasuko approaches to the desk. "Yeah, my name is Yasuko, and I'm here for the official match today," she stated.

The reception lady happens to realize what the name means to her. "Oh, so then you're here for the exhibition duel, right?"

Yasuko nodded.

The reception lady checks back to the computer and turns to the daily schedule. "Oh right, it is time for the exhibition duel," she noticed. The reception lady gets up and walks around to guide Yasuko to the stadium of her first match. "Right this way," she gestured.

Yasuko follows the lady to the doorway and into the hallways of the duel school. For something to be a duel school, the building seems like an office. There aren't that many students or staff around the area.

"Sure is quiet around here," Yasuko commented.

"Everyone is waiting for you," the reception lady stated. "They thought that you won't show up for the exhibition match."

Yasuko lifts her head to the reception lady. "Everyone?" she inquired.

"The Sonic Wing Duel School is not as big as the Leo Institute, but it does have its perks," the reception lady stated. "I find it very amusing to see an opponent taking the first match when the deadline to the Arc League is in a week."

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly. "I still got time before then."

The reception glances over her shoulder to Yasuko. "Why are you entering the Arc League?" she asked.

"I happen to encounter someone who is competing at the Arc League, and I want to settle some old score," Yasuko responded.

Her response made the reception lady turn to her in surprise. "Are you going for that?"

Yasuko shrugged. "It's my only chance of taking the shot, that means I have to get in if I'm ever going to beat this person in the match."

The two ladies come close to the two big doors. The reception lady turns to Yasuko. "Here we are, Mrs. Yukihana, the Sonic Duel School Stadium."

And with that, she opens the doors wide. Upon entering through the bright light, Yasuko thought that it would be small like the Gongenzaka Dojo, but instead, the whole stadium is filled with anticipating audience around the bleachers. Following her sight around the stadium are different sets of gymnastic equipment next to the field. Around the field are sets and platforms where students can flip in the air before landing on the mattresses, trampolines, and piles of pillows. There is also an air mattress where other students do acrobatic flips. It looks a lot like the parkour gym that Yasuko goes to, only it is more designed for the gymnastics.

The reception lady leads her across the big field as she starts to lecture her about what the school is made for. "Sonic Wing Duel School is designed for everyone and duelists alike to build their set of skills in the art of gymnastics, flexibility, and strength if they want to be the best at Action Duels."

Yasuko notices that some of the students, mostly girls, were staring at her curiously. It's quite common for her to be getting stares because she is the mysterious girl who is carrying her gym bag. "Sounds like my type of exercise, only I jump from building to building and parks," she commented.

As they walk around, the reception lady stops and so did Yasuko. The lady gestures her hand to Yasuko's first opponent of the day. "And there is your opponent, Mrs. Yukihana," said the reception lady.

Yasuko takes a look at a teenage girl standing on top of a platform. She could be two years older than her. She had light skin with dark hair with bangs that shadows over her dark brown eyes. She is wearing a gymnast clothing as she prepares herself to do a trick. Once she breathes in, she exhales before she prints forward. From there she performs a front pike somersault before doing a cartwheel and then the whip back.

Yasuko was impressed with the young woman's natural ability to execute such a very risky move that even she cannot do. She watches as the young woman transitions from her whip back to a back layout as she falls to land perfectly on top of the air before landing down until she falls to the mattress on two feet.

Some of the girls who were watching her give loud applause to see their beloved champion did a perfect move that nobody can do.

For someone with such skills in acrobatics, Yasuko is sure enough that her opponent is going to be tough.

"Nice landing," Yasuko called.

The young woman notices the teenage cynical girl with the reception lady. She wipes off the sweat with a towel as she approaches her. She stops in front of Yasuko and responds with a question, "I take that you are the duelist who called me?"

"I happened to be a guest here, but yeah, I'm your opponent," said Yasuko. "And you are?"

The young woman drinks some water before introducing herself to the girl. "Rikka. Rikka Dashiki."

"Yasuko Yukihana." The girl introduces herself.

The young woman raises an eyebrow with curiosity. She never expects her opponent to be such a teenage girl. "Not too shabby there, Yukihana," she said. "Though I wish you could've at least come in with something to properly wear in today's match."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at Rikka, already disliking her the moment she starts talking about her appearance. "Excuse me?" she inquired.

The young woman makes a small smile. "We, Sonic Wing duelists, are not only measured by our dueling, but by our ability to adapt into any Action Fields regardless of what it is." She then takes one looks down at Yasuko's cloths from the black vest over her black and white striped long sleeves to the boots below her jean hems. "And you don't seem to care much about that, would you?"

Yasuko's eyes narrow even further to the point where it almost looks like she was glaring. "Perhaps, you don't seem to know a thing about me, Dashiki," she responded. "I don't care about appearance as long as I can duel. I get that it's a fashion thing, but I don't seek fashion; I seek comfort."

Rikka held a smirk on her face. "Maybe so, but are you prepared for what's to come?"

"I know what I'm expecting," Yasuko said. "Now, are we gonna duel?"

Rikka's smirk grows even wider as she lowers her head with a fire sparking inside of her. "Ah, I see. You're here because you need six consecutive wins for the Arc League Championship?"

"You guess it," Yasuko admitted.

Rikka turns her head slightly with interest. "So, it would seem," she responded. "Then it is time then, to the field. Five minutes."

The official duel between Yasuko and Rikka starts in about five minutes, so everyone from the Sonic Wing Duel School gathers around the stadium. Some had bleachers to sit on and watch the duel for the audience. The huge caged stadium is so big that it is as big as the You-Shows.

Yasuko stands alone in the middle of the field surrounded by the students and staff of the school. Some of the audiences are also not from the school but the common people. It sure has been a while since she was in the Regional Frontier Games.

As she stands in front of the stadium, Julian comes inside the cage shortly, but this time, she happens to be wearing sports leggings with shoes and some kind of drape. "So, what do you think?" Rikka asked twirling around for Yasuko to see.

Yasuko is not impressed with the outfit that she is wearing. "It makes you look ridiculous," she commented.

Rikka seems to narrow her eyes. "Have you not known anything about adaptability?" she asked.

"What? Wearing some sports outfits that makes you faster is never about adaptability," said Yasuko. "It's about adjusting yourself to use the field to your advantage."

Rikka readies herself for the duel. "Then I shall show you what it means to be ready in an environment where you are no prepared."

As her orange blade emits from the duel disk, Yasuko takes out her forest green duel disk from her holster and attaches it to her wrist with the blue blade glowing from the end.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen, get yourself ready for the exhibition Action Duel!" A female announcer name Juliet speaks through the loudspeakers. "Are you ready to rock!" The audience cheers back in response to the question. "Good! Then let's get this started! For today's match setup, the duel is set between Sonic Wing Duel School's top duelist expert and senior class member of the Japanese Gymnastics National Team, Rikka Dashiki and her opponent newcomer, Yasuko Yukihana of the You-Show Duel School!"

The audience cheers on for Rikka who was well known by the students and staff of the school. Yasuko can see the audience from the Sonic Wing Duel school around her. Sure, she was used to letting about ten to twenty people watch her duel, but the sight of so many people watching her duel is nerve-wracking. It's not like one of the small people to about less than twenty. There must be about hundreds of student duelists around the stadium. There is an unbearable feeling that got to her since the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games. It's been so long that she has forgotten what it feels like to be dueling in a very large crowd.

Yasuko gulps to keep her aphonia down and focuses on blocking out the noise. She didn't mind about being a part of the crowd, but when it comes to doing something in front of a very big audience as this duel, then it's going to be tough for herself.

" _Geez, why does this duel have to be this big?"_ Yasuko thought. " _Can't it be just a simple duel with only little to no audience? Why does it have to be in front of this many people?"_

Yasuko closes her eyes and breaths in easily to calm her nerves before exhaling to exfoliate the aphonia. " _Just stay calm, Yasuko,"_ she pondered to herself. " _Just breath and let the entire floor be your battlefield."_ When she opens her eyes, Yasuko is full of determination.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen! Get set to duel big as we present yourselves for the one and the only, the headmistress of the Sonic Wing Duel School! Mrs. Vicky Dekchi!" And the attention to the woman standing on top of a platform wearing gymnastics clothes with her orange hair being tied to a bun and her blue aqua eyes shining upon the spotlight. She spreads her arms out before she leaps of faith. She freefalls before landing on a trampoline and aerodynamically front flipping to the center of the stadium before landing perfectly on two feet. The audience gives a round of applause to the headmistress of the school.

Her cool shiny blue aqua eyes open with seriousness. "Here, in the Sonic Wing Duel School, we take our chance to fly high in the sky with such balanced footwork and precision to be at the best. We teach and help students aim to be at their best of their abilities in both the air and in Action Duels, for that is the way of balance between the duelist and the environment!" After giving her speech, the headmistress raises her hand to make a loud snap to signify the activation of the Action Field Spell; **Gidden Grassland.** "I activate the Action Field Spell! Gidden Grassland!" Vicky announced.

The ARC system transforms the stadium into a field of vast yellow grassland. The clear blue sky above Rikka and Yasuko spreads across the ceiling upon the two duelists.

"So, Yukihana, shall we begin?" Rikka asked.

"Lets," Yasuko responded.

With the field setup and prepared, the two duelist makes final preparations for the match.

"Duelist locked in battle!" Rikka chanted.

"To kick against the earth and dance with the greatest monsters of all!" Yasuko chanted too.

"They stormed through this field!" Rikka added.

"And fight to the finish!" Yasuko exclaimed.

"Witness! The greatest evolution of dueling!" They chorused together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Rikka Dashiki (5x cards)**

 **VS**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (5x cards)**

" _ **DUEL!**_ "

And with that the giant bubble in the air disperses the Action Cards everywhere on the field, possibly hiding among the elephant grass. The winds blow around the two duelists like a samurai movie scene.

 **Turn 1: Rikka (5x cards)**

"I'll go first!" Rikka takes a card from her hand. "From my hand, I summon Simorgh, Bird of Beginning!" Rikka Normal Summons **Simorgh, Bird of Beginning (ATK 0/DEF 1600)**. On her field is a baby bird with red eyes and light green feathers decorated in jewels and gold while it wears a red crown hat on its head.

"Now, I activate Simorgh Beginning's special effect!" Rikka shouted. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can also Normal Summon one "Simorgh" from my hand!" As per the effect of her monster, Rikka gets to have an additional Normal Summon, and she summons **Simorgh, Bird of Bringing (ATK 1000/DEF 1000)**. The second monster that Rikka summons is orange and yellow with a cap that has spiky feathers on top. The two birds on Rikka's field screeched together.

"Now, I activate Bringing's special effect! When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one "Simorgh" card from my deck and add it to my hand!" She takes out one card to add one particular card. She looks down and smirks. "Excellent, now the hunt can truly begin."

Yasuko raises an eyebrow in confusion. "Hunt?" she inquired.

"They say that there are fields worth being played in if you are ready to adapt in any situation change," said Rikka. "And I hope you are ready for anything that comes to your way."

Yasuko doesn't like how her opponent is talking, but she cannot let someone like Rikka play with her head. "I'm ready for anything."

Rikka's smirk grew. "Then you're going to love this." She raises her hand to activate the Field Spell Card: **Elborz, the Sacred Lands of Simorgh**. "I activate the Field Spell, Elborz, the Scared Lands of Simorgh!"

Yasuko was taken back by Rikka activating a Field Spell while there is an Action Field Spell. "What?!" she gasped. "You can activate a Field Spell even if there's an Action Field Spell?!"

"Well, duh?" Rikka scoffed. "This is a duel. I still have an open Field Spell slot. Action Field Spells only add a little spice." Rikka seems to be rather enjoying Yasuko's surprised look on her face. "What? You didn't know you can do that?"

Yasuko furrows here eyebrows hard, clearly infuriated about not knowing that you can use a regular Field Spell Card even if there is an Action Field Spell. "No, I didn't," she retorted. "I wasn't told about that."

Rikka smiles. "You know what I love about this hunt," Rikka called, "is that you proved to be very entertaining."

Yasuko gives Rikka a hard glare. She starts running. She pushes through the grass and scans one area before continuing to the next. Because of how tall the grass is, it would be impossible to see where to go.

"Is that what you do whenever you duel somebody?" Yasuko asked, swatting away some grass on her face. "You taunt them into making mistakes until you can snare them like a rat?"

"Oh no, no, no, I do not _snare_ my prey; I _stalk_ my prey," Rikka rebuked. "You think you know the layout of the Action Field better than anyone else?"

Yasuko knees and scans the grass for any sudden movements. If Rikka is looking for Action Cards, then she must be close or far away. "And you seem to break one rule; never underestimate your opponent," she called.

"Please, as if I underestimate," Rikka disputed. "You duel like its already your victory, but victory has defeated you if you aren't ready to adapt to any situations where it changes. Even in Action Duels."

Yasuko pushes a bush and spots one Action Card lying on the ground. "Bingo" she whispered.

As Yasuko comes out to an open area, Rikka steps out at the same time, only she is closer to the Action Card. Rikka had one arm with the duel disk slouching on her hips. "Hm, too easy," she commented.

The confusion was written in Yasuko's face. She looks back behind her thinking of how Rikka was able to move from one spot to the Action Card without getting spotted. "How'd you–"

"I've adapted myself to play on this field," Rikka revealed. "Something tells me that this is the first time you've done this before. Your first Action Duel?"

"I never even played an Action Duel until I was transferred here," Yasuko divulged.

Rikka's eyes widened in surprise. "Really?" she asked. "Well…" Julian's mouth curve to a smirk. "It would seem you've never _actually_ adopted Action Duels then."

"What's so important about adopting to Action Duels?" Yasuko questioned. "It's just a scavenger hunt to find Action Cards to give you're a boost." She pushes through the grass to get in a clearing. "So, what you activated a Field Spell? That don't mean anything."

Rikka makes a snort. "You don't seem to get it, don't you?" She bends over to pick up the Action Card. "It's more than just finding Action Card and using them to your advantage; it's about learning to adjust yourself to be better suited for any fields no matter which one." She looks up and saw how annoyed Yasuko is feeling.

"If you can't adjust yourself to be flexible in your deck, then you have no chance of winning yourself a victory," Rikka stated. "I activate Elborz, the Sacred Land's effect! All WIND Winged-Beast monsters on my field gain 300 ATK points!" Since the beginning bird and bringing bird are both WIND attribute, they gain a power boost.

 **(Simorgh, Bird of Beginning: ATK 0** → **300)**

 **(Simorgh, Bird of Bringing: ATK 1000** → **1300)**

"Now, I can activate its effect! Once per turn, I can reveal a level 5 or higher Winged-Beast monster from my hand and Normal Summon it with only 1 tribute!" Rikka added.

"Are you kidding me?!" Yasuko exclaimed. "You get to summon another monster?!"

"Of course," Rikka replied. "I may have Normal Summoned about twice now, but with Elborz, I can get one more just to set up the perfect monster." Rikka raises her hand. "I tribute my Beginning and Bringing to Tribute Summon Dark Simorgh!" Due to the effects of Rikka's field spell, she can conduct a Tribute Summon by sending her two birds to Tribute Summon **Dark Simorgh (ATK 2700/DEF 1000)**. The two birds fly up in the sky where the clouds form around the small hole. Purple lightning appears on the field, and what came down is a giant black bird with a crown hat on top of its head and a ring blade on its back. With a very wide wingspan, the black simorgh screeches loud as it flies high above Rikka.

Yasuko has a bad feeling about seeing the monster on the field. "Well, shit."

"Oh, and it gets better," Rikka added. "As long as Dark Simorgh is on the field, you cannot Set any cards on the field."

"Oh, come on!" Yasuko shouted.

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn." Rikka Sets a card.

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

It's Yasuko's turn, but she is already in very bad shape. Because of the black simorgh on the field, she cannot set any cards, and the girl cannot do anything to protect herself against the black simorgh. The monster is powerful. Not only does she have enough monsters to beat it, but she cannot set anything so long as the black simorgh is on the field.

Yasuko looks down at her hand. Her cards are consisting of **Decoy Dragon** , **Assault Wyvern** , **King of D.** , the Trap Card, **Damage Diet** , and the Spell Card: **Advance Draw**.

"It's my move," said Yasuko. "I draw!" She draws a card from her deck. She drew the Spell Card: **Foolish Burial**. "I activate the Foolish Burial Spell Card!" Yasuko activates the spell card. "This lets me send one monster from my deck to the graveyard!" Yasuko picks one and sends a dragon monster.

"Next, I summon Decoy Dragon!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Decoy Dragon (ATK 300/DEF 200)**. On Yasuko's field is the baby turquoise dragon which caused a shrieking uproar among the female audiences from how cute the monster Yasuko summoned.

"And I end my turn," Yasuko concluded.

 **Turn 3: Rikka (1x card)**

Rikka seems satisfied with her field with only a face-down and the black simorgh that blocks anything that Yasuko sets. "Looks like I have you in the net," she said. "My turn!" Rikka draws a card from her deck. "I activate the Spell, Simorgh Onslaught!" Rikka activates the Spell Card: **Simorgh Onslaught**. "This lets me discard one Winged-Beast to add two "Simorgh" monsters with different attributes to my hand!" By discarding her Winged-Beast monster card, she adds two more to get her more cards.

"Next, I active Beginning and Bringing Birds' special effect!" Rikka announced. "If you control no Spell and Trap cards, I can Special Summon both of them from my graveyard, but they are banished when they leave the field!" Rikka uses the effects of each monster to Special Summon **Simorgh, Bird of Beginning** , and **Simorgh, Bird of Bringing** back on the field. The green and yellow-orange birds appeared on the field with the boost from Rikka's field spell.

 **(Simorgh, Bird of Beginning: ATK 0** → **300)**

 **(Simorgh, Bird of Bringing: ATK 1000** → **1300)**

"Now, I activate Eborz's special effect! I can reveal one Winged-Beast monster from my hand, and for this turn, I can Normal Summon one Winged-Beast monster with one tribute," Rikka explained. "I tribute my Bird of Beginning to Tribute Summon Simorgh, Lord of the Storm!" The beginning bird on Rikka's field vanishes to let the girl Tribute Summon **Simorgh, Lord of the Storm (ATK 2900/DEF 2000)**. Besides the black simorgh is a second simorgh, only it is green and had wider wings than the black one.

"And let's not forget about my active Field Spell, Simorgh Lord gains 300 ATK points!" Due to the effect of Rikka's field Spell, the green simorgh gains a boost to surpass all of Yasuko's life points.

 **(Simorgh, Lord of the Storm: ATK 2900** → **3200)**

"Now, battle!" Rikka points her finger at the baby turquoise dragon. "Dark Simorgh, attack Decoy Dragon!" The black simorgh flaps it wings wide and flies over to attack the baby turquoise dragon.

"Decoy Dragon's special effect activates," said Yasuko. "When Decoy Dragon is being targeted for an attack, I can Special Summon a Level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my graveyard!" Just before the girl can activate and resolve her effect, Rikka had other things taken care of it.

"Lord of the Storm's effect activates!" Rikka shouted. "When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect activates, I can tribute one WIND Winged-Beast monster on the field and shuffle it back to your deck!" She points at the baby turquoise dragon. "Sorry, but this time, I'm going to win this match!"

The green simorgh flaps its wings to create a green tornado that blows the baby dragon out of the field and back into Yasuko's deck.

"Damn it!" Yasuko cursed. She starts running away from Rikka to find herself an Action Card that can help her survive the onslaught. "Where is it? Where is it?" Yasuko pushes through the grass to find herself one Action Card.

"Run as you like, but my victory has been assured," Rikka taunted. "If you cannot adapt yourself to any situational change like this, then you have no chance of winning against me."

The green and black simorgh fly overhead to start coming fast toward Yasuko. "I resume my battle! Dark Simorgh and Simorgh, Lord of the Storm, attack Yasuko directly!" The two simorghs are closing in behind Yasuko.

The forest-green girl runs through the tall elephant grass as the leaves slap her face. She is trying so hard to get her act together. She spots one Action Card on the ground and takes to activate the Action Spell Card: **Full Fairing**. "I activate the Action Spell, Full Fairing!" Yasuko inserts the Action Card into her duel disk. "For the rest of the turn, all damage is halved!"

Despite halving the damage to her life points, it doesn't stop the two simorghs from forming a giant tornado that blows across the safari grassland and aimed directly to Yasuko. The tornado was so strong that the girl was forced off her feet and flown back across the field.

Yasuko grunts landing hard on the ground with the grass being destroyed by the strong air currents blowing at her direction.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the bus stop, Yuya hurries off and runs to the address of the duel school where Yasuko's first official duel is taking place. Not far behind him was Gongenzaka, followed by Zuzu, and then the other students of You-Show. They don't know how long they were waiting considering that the bus schedule is out of whack.

"Hurry! Yasuko's duel is almost over!" Yuya called to the others behind him.

"We're coming!" Zuzu called back. "I don't even know when her duel was about to start, so maybe it'll be over soon!"

They run as fast as their feet could take them after a flight of long stairs follow by a long waiting period in the bus stop. "In here!" Yuya pushes the doors open. The reception lady saw them entering in the group.

"Excuse me, is there an exhibition duel going on?" Yuya asked the lady.

She points at the hallways. "Follow down and turn left," she said.

"Thank you!" Yuya then picks up speed to go after the duel that was going on. He listens for the sound of the cheering and shows that were echoing in the hallways. "This way! I think it's in here!"

Yuya can see the group of people coming around a cage stadium. He is the first to come out and take a look at the field. It was so crowded that he would have to push his way through to the stadium to take a look at what is going on.

"Excuse me! Excuse me!" Yuya squeezed his way through the crowd with the others not far behind.

"Coming through, please!" Gongenzaka exclaimed, pushing his way for the three kids and Zuzu to come.

As soon as Yuya enters the view of the cage stadium, he was shocked to see the current situation of the duel.

There was Rikka, Yasuko's opponent, with her black and green simorgh. She was starting at the front where there was a crater line stretches across the field. He follows the line down across until he was horrified to see who was laying on the ground with scratch marks.

Yasuko was down with her eyes closed in a grimace after the attack obliterated almost all of her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **1050** **)**

"Yasuko!" Yuya called. "Yasuko!" He tried to call her name many times, but she seems unconscious from the attack.

"Yasuko!" Allie shouted. "Yasuko! It's us!"

"Yasuko, we're here for you!" Tate joined in.

"Yasuko!" Frederick exclaimed.

Gongenzaka and Zuzu were shocked that the girl is down on the ground. Zuzu held her hand to her mouth. "Oh my…Yasuko," she gasped.

Sora comes over shortly afterward and sees the girl down. "What happened?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Gongenzaka inquired. "We came here a bit late than what the duel was expected to begin, but it would seem Yasuko's got herself quite a bit of trouble."

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (4x cards)**

The girl felt like the blast has immobilized her entire body. The painful sensations all over her body are going to be there for the rest of the duel. She grunted and opens her eyes.

She can hear the noise coming from the audience calling her name. Turning her head slightly, she was surprised to find the You-Show students and Gongenzaka over there calling out to her.

" _Yuya? What are the others doing here?"_ she thought. " _Why are they here?"_ Yasuko turns back to Rikka in clear view petting her pet dragon monster beside her. Seeing her smirking makes Yasuko more infuriated with the girl not because of her but because of how she is becoming a very hard obstacle.

She imagines Melania Herman giving the same smirk that Rikka was making and seeing them both is making her heart inside spark a flame.

"That's it," she growled. Yasuko yanks herself off from the dirt and pulls herself together. "You're starting to piss me off." Slowly, she gets back up from the ground and glares hard at her opponent.

Rikka held a smirk and makes a laugh out of her mouth. "Good luck trying to beat me though. It would seem you weren't prepared for this," she laughed. "I mean it. How come you never prepare yourself for the unexpected?"

Yasuko's eyes tighten at the girl for questioning her what do in the duel that she doesn't know what is coming. "You question me about what to expect?" she asked. "What I expect is to get myself to the fight one person in the Arc League Championship, and I'm not going to let you beat me out of my chance." Yasuko places one hand on her deck.

"Come on, Yasuko!" Allie shouted with both hands to her mouth. "You can do it!"

"You can do it!" Tate joined.

"Yasuko, you have to beat her!" Frederick yelled.

Yasuko is having a hard time trying to keep her head straight. All the shouts, cheers, and applause from the You-Show are making her headache stab very hard. " _Damn it,"_ she thought. _"I can't even concentrate with them shouting to my ears."_ She notices her hand was trembling violently. It is as if there was a short flashback to the point of her life where she was in a situation like this.

The roar of the crowd cheering, making noise to the victor of the duel. It was like the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games all over again. She grits her teeth in anger and grips it to get it to stop. " _Come on, Yasuko, just draw!"_

Yuya was practically the first one who notices something strange about Yasuko. She was having trouble getting her hand together. He saw how her hand was shaking uncontrollably. "Yasuko?" he muttered.

Zuzu was staring at Yasuko with an odd expression. "What's wrong?"

"Is she hurt?" Allie asked.

"Oh, not again," Fredrick whined.

Yasuko is making her hand grip so tight that it is hurting her right hand until it stops. "All right, here I go, I…" With one swift swipe, Yasuko draws a card leaving behind a turquoise motion trail behind. "DRAW!" She looks down. Her frown decreases when she saw the card and looked up to Rikka.

By taking out one card, Yasuko makes her move. "I summon the King of D!" Yasuko Normal Summons **The King of D.** **(ATK 1200/DEF 1000)**. On her field is a red-caped dragon rockstar with bone armor holding a blue three-headed guitar in his palm.

"Next, I activate King of D's special effect," said Yasuko. "When this card is summoned, I can add one "Flute of Summoning Dragon", "Melody of Awakening Dragon", or "Dragon Revival Rhapsody" from my deck to my hand." She chooses one spell card and adds it to her hand. She is already thinking of a way to break the opponent's board.

"Then, I activate the Spell, Pot of Desires!" Yasuko plays the **Pot of Desires** Spell Card. "This card lets me banish ten cards from the top of my deck, and I get to draw two cards." She starts removing the top ten cards from her deck, Yasuko is putting the risk and draws two cards.

She looks at one, and it was certain that it is the card that she needs to finish off Rikka for good. "You expect me to be very adaptive in duels, right?" she questioned. "Well, did you expect me to be doing this! I activate the Spell, Flute of Summoning Dragon!" Yasuko plays the Spell Card: **The Flute of Summoning Dragon**. "This card lets me special summon up to two Dragon monsters from my hand if I control a "Lord of D" monster on the field!"

Rikka was taken back because she saw the field that Yasuko has. "What? But you don't have a Lord of D. on the field," she accused.

"King of D is treated as a Lord of D when it is on the field or in the graveyard," Yasuko clarified. "And now, with the spell activated, I Special Summon Gandora-X, the Dragon of Demolition!" By using the spell, Yasuko Special Summons **Gandora-X, the Dragon of Demolition (ATK 0/DEF 0)**.

The dragon that Yasuko has summoned is different from her other dragons before. With very wide wingspan, it flaps as the red orb all over its body glows crimson red with its glowing red eyes that can pierce through steel. The dragon roars upon its entry, astonishing everyone. What's curious though is that the dragon has no ATK or DEF points.

The You-Show students and Gongenzaka saw the dragon that was in front of them. They were confused but mostly taken back by the demolition dragon's lack of attack or defense power.

"Why'd she summoned that thing?" Tate inquired. "It can barely stand against a bird."

Frederick had to agree with Tate's claim. "Yeah," he said. "0 ATK and 0 DEF points? How is she going to beat those birds with that dragon alone?"

"Does she have some kind of plan?" Allie asked.

Zuzu raised an eyebrow. "I…I guess she may have one," she assumed.

"If she does, then she'd better think fast," said Gongenzaka.

Unlike the rest of the You-Show, Rikka is not impressed with seeing the monster that in front of her. "All of that talk and you summoned a monster that can't even attack," she said. "I mean? What good will that do?"

Yasuko never stops giving Rikka her narrowed gaze as she reveals something that will make the girl's eyes grew as big as teacups. "You're underestimating me and this deck of mine," she said. "So let me enlighten you what Gandora-X can do." After a momentary pause, she continued, "When Gandora-X is Special Summoned from my hand, it destroys all cards on the field, and you take damage equal to the monster with the highest original ATK points."

Rikka's eyes widened in shock. "What?!"

Yasuko kept her eyes on Rikka as the demolition dragon behind her starts the destruction. The red orbs all over its body were glowing brightly like Christmas lights. They were glowing so bright that the dragon looked like it was about to explode. Once the power is fully contained, the demolition dragon unleashes a shower of red laser beams all over the field. The lasers strike everywhere, exploding the ground with multiple eruptions, three of which destroys all of Rikka's monsters and cards in her field. The only monster on Yasuko's side of the field: the dragon rockstar king, was also destroyed in the blast.

The impact of multiple lasers hitting the earth has to push Rikka into the air. She gives out a painful grunt after landing back hard after taking a major hit on her life points.

 **(Rikka: LP 4000** → **1100)**

The girl recovers and saw what Yasuko did. The area was engulfed in flames that surround the two duelists, leaving them nowhere to escape despite being a hologram.

The entire audience and the You-Show people were astonished of how the girl manages to break Rikka's field and cleared all the cards.

"Wow, did you see that," said Tate.

"She just took out all of this girl's cards on the field like it was nothing," Allie responded with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm starting to get shivers down my spine," Frederick added.

Rikka was looking around the field to notice something else. While flames are sprouting everywhere, the entire field setup is in a circle, trapping both duelists in a ring of fire. "What the hell?" she inquired. "You trapped us?"

"Of course," said Yasuko. "I've been thinking of this whole Action Duel business in this town, and I was convinced. You said that in duels you have to adapt to survive; yet, you never even showed me how your deck stands against anyone when you are not doing Action Duels. Maybe you never adapted to the usual aspect of a master duel."

Rikka blinks in surprise. "A Master Duel?"

"It's true I'm not used to the Action Duels that everyone's been talking about because I've been used to Master Duels which is no Action Cards or Action Fields, just two duelists duking it out with their decks. I've seen too many people rely on Action Duels that they never even bother to adapt back to Master Duels," Yasuko illuminated.

It seems Yasuko struck a nerve on Rikka as she narrows her eyes to the girl. "What'd you expect?" she inquired. "Action Duels are now dominating the game. Nobody can't stay with Master Duel forever. We all have to adapt to it."

"No, it seems you misunderstood," Yasuko protested.

As they talk, their conversation was spreading to the audience in the school. Yuya was listening to her words carefully. He gets what the Master Duel is, but he wonders what Yasuko was talking regarding Action and Master Duels.

"Action Duels just gives a little spice to the competition. Everyone was doing Action Duels that they seem to forget what it was like to adapt in a Master Duel. It's not just Action Duels that I've adopted… I was raised in Master Duels. Even Pro-Duelists like you would understand that you need to know how to adapt in Master Duels situations.

"If you cannot adjust yourself to be better in Master Duels, then you can never adapt in any situations regardless of what kind of Duel it is." Yasuko's speech slowly makes some impact on the students and the staff around the cage stadium, especially for the You-Show.

Yuya listens to her words carefully, understanding something about Action Duels. "She's right," he said.

The others turn to him in curious. "Yuya?" Zuzu inquired.

"Even if I were to become an Entertainment Duelist, I mustn't forget that Master Duels still applies to everything," said Yuya. "Before Action Duels, my dad was still the best in Masters."

Even Gongenzaka nodded in agreement. "Hmm. It is true. Before I set foot on an Action Field, we always have to work on our core strengths. A Master Duel is always the basics in the dojo."

Sora had his hands behind his head with a lollipop in his mouth. "Can't say I don't like it, but I think she is right," he commented.

"Like that has anything to do with this match," Rikka scoffed. "You may have even up the score, but I can still finish you off on my next turn!"

"There won't be a next turn," Yasuko denied. "Gandora-X gains ATK points equal to the damage that you took this turn with this effect."

Rikka gives a horrified gasp as she watches the demolition dragon powers up, glowing in a crimson aura to boost its strength.

 **(Gandora-X, the Dragon of Demolition: ATK 0** → **ATK 2900)**

"No way," Yuya gasped. "It gains all of that ATK points?"

Yasuko's nose flared. "Battle!" She makes a handgun gesture and aims at the girl in front of her. "Gandora-X, attack directly!"

The demolition dragon charges up for a second blast, but this time, the dragon is absorbing enough energy to focus them on Rikka. Once it's charged up, the dragon fires a huge red laser beam over to the girl.

Rikka can't believe how Yasuko was able to beat her despite everything that she has thrown at her. Yasuko did take a major hit; yet, she is going to beat her notwithstanding the odds of winning six consecutive matches for the Arc League Championship. Rikka watches as the red beam comes streaking to make a huge explosion that causes the grass to push back in the shockwaves in an OTK.

 **(Rikka: LP 1100** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The smoke and the fire on the grassland disperse as soon as the duel was decided. The audience was left in shock that the best duelist in the school was beaten by a stranger from the You-Show.

The You-Show students and Gongenzaka, on the other hand, all give a loud applause to the girl for her first official victory.

"Yay, Yasuko!" Allie cheered.

"That was awesome!" Tate praised.

"What a duel!" Fredrick hailed. "To think she cleared her opponent's monsters with just one monster alone!"

Soon after the audience then gives the shouts and cheers to the girl for making performance in the field.

Yasuko almost collapsed in exhaustion. It was taking a toll on her energy. The shouts, the cheers, and the entire atmosphere. "Damn it," she cursed. "I didn't think it would come to this." Small footsteps can be heard from a few feet and Yasuko looked up to see Rikka bending over to give her a helping hand.

"What'd you expect?" she asked. "This is an Action Duel after all."

"Not the Action Duel, I can get used to that," Yasuko rebuked before taking her hand to help herself. "It's this." She gestures to the crowd around them.

Rikka looks over to the people making a noise. She then realizes what Yasuko was talking about. "You mean the crowd?"

Yasuko breathes out and flips a bang over her head. "I hate how my duel is going to be in front of an audience of this size."

Rikka turns back to the girl. "This isn't the first time you've done this, have you?" she asked.

Yasuko shook her head. "No…it's been a _very_ long time."

"Yasuko!" The girl turns her head to see the three children, Gongenzaka, and the rest of the You-Show Duelist entering the stadium to congratulate her on her first victory for the Ac League Championship.

Allie comes forward to hug the girl. "That was awesome, Yasuko!" she hailed. "You did it!"

"Now you just need five more matches for the Arc League Championship," Tate pointed out.

"Hey, what are you all doing here?" Yasuko asked.

"We wanted to come to cheer you on for the first official match," said Fredrick.

"Thanks, but really, I don't need you all to come and watch me," Yasuko replied.

"But we want to," Allie responded. "We are all You-Show, and everyone in the You-Show sticks together to the end."

Zuzu smiles at her. "We all want you to win so that you can enter the Arc League Championship just like all of us," she said.

Yasuko pats Allie on her head as she looks around the crowd in front of her. "I appreciate what you are doing, everybody, but really, I was doing fine thank you." She lightly pushes Allie out of her hug. "Now, if you excuse me…I must be going." Yasuko dismisses any more talk coming from the You-Show. She is in the mood to go home and rest.

"You're leaving?" Tate asked. "But we just got here."

"Well, I'm sorry if you came here on short notice, but right now…" Yasuko turns her head away and lightly put a hand on her temple. "I just want some sleep. Good-bye, everyone." She pushes past through Gongenzaka and walks out of the stadium. She never realized it, but Yuya was the only person who was still at the stands. His eyes are wide, but not from shock, but something else.

"Someday, huh?" Yasuko inquired.

Yuya blinked once to snap himself out of his thoughts before replying, "Um…yeah, it was." He smiles at her, but there wasn't much delight. "I know you can win and get to the Arc League Championship in time."

Yasuko nodded. "Right, see ya later, Yuya Sakaki." And with that, she walks out to grab her gym bag.

As Yuya looks on, he takes a glance down to her hand. Even after the duel, her hands were shaking slightly before Yasuko grips it to her fist. He is left wondering what was causing Yasuko's hand to shake like that in the duel.

* * *

 **Okay, so for this is the first duel: I gotta say, I was confused about something for Action Duel. I have no idea how Field Spells being used in Action Duels when there is an Action Field Spell, but I'm going to assume that for now on, all Action Field Spells are separate and that gives you only Action Cards and no additional effects. If any of you readers have anything to say about that or know something about Action Field Spells, just let me know and what you think about this first duel, and maybe I can work it out in future duels.**


	25. Chapter 25: A Parkour Ninja

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 25: A Parkour Ninja; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Lightning Wolf_

* * *

The President of the Leo Corporation, Declan Akaba, is reviewing the report on Yasuko Yukihana, participating in six various exhibition matches for the Arc League Championship. He was surprised because Yasuko hasn't made any significant moves since her first Pendulum Summon. The championship is in about a week, and the girl has finally shown herself since the day he first met her.

Declan turns to Claude for the first-hand experience. "I see," said Declan. "So, Yasuko Yukihana has won her first match, hasn't she?"

"Yes, Mr. President," Claude responded. "Yasuko earned her first victory yesterday, and her second match is about to start today."

Declan adjusts his red glasses. He felt a smile tucking on his face. "How intriguing," he commented. "It looks like we'll be needing the final member for the games." The young man turns over to face the city horizon. "Did Yasuko use her Synchro or Pendulum Summon?"

"No, sir," Claude reported. "The control room detected nothing from the duel. Not one thing from her yesterday. It was all too quiet."

Declan is curious about his answer. He is well aware that Yasuko is the third person to acquire Pendulum cards on her own. His eyes narrow at the thought of her intellect. "Keeping it close, huh?" he assumed. "She's going to be trickier than I thought." He suspects that Yasuko may be onto them. They're always monitoring abnormal energy levels of an Extra Deck method. Could Yasuko have already known that she was being watched? No. Declan can't be sure. All he knows is Yasuko never made any significant events until the day of her first official match yesterday.

Claude is making a question regarding the other matter. "Mr. President, this isn't a subject that is related to Yasuko, but there is one other thing that's concerning me," he said. "All of our best minds and scientists are yet to unravel this Pendulum Extra Deck method."

Claude gives Declan the tablet for him to take a look at the results of the experiment. "Our Pendulum cards are still currently in the testing phase," he reported. "They're still working on the stabilization level to as high as they can handle, but we can't be sure if we can replicate the same amount of output as the ones we detected a few weeks ago."

Declan nodded. "It should be fine, Claude," he maintained. "Even if we cannot make the same output, they should be 100% ready before the Arc League." He looks back up to Claude. "All things consider it should go according to plan."

* * *

On the sunrise, Yasuko is half-sleep with her head underneath her pillow. Removing herself, she faces the wall with a deadpanning look on her face. Yasuko was pondering deeply about the duel.

" _Damn it,"_ Yasuko cursed mentally. " _I did it again."_ She brings up her right hand, staring at it, thinking back of how it was still trembling. " _Even after the Frontier Games, nothing's changed."_ Yasukosits up and looks out the window. " _Every time I get into this kind of event, it's such a pain in the ass."_ Her face grows a deep frown as she thought of the one person who was going in her head. _"But I can't back away from this opportunity. If Melania Herman is going to the Arc League, then I have to get there."_ The next match today will be her second victory, and she is going to beat her opponents no matter how strong they are.

After getting dressed to her casual outfit, Yasuko ties her hair to the same low pigtails that she usually wears while walking downstairs to the kitchen. Then, a doorbell ring loudly.

Yasuko was curious about who would be up as early as she was. She comes by the door and unlocks the door to take a peek; though, she leaves the chain lock on. Upon looking through, to her surprise, it was Yuya Sakaki. He yawns and rubs his eyes, still sleepy from waking up early.

"Yuya?" Yasuko inquired. "What are you doing here? And how'd you find my house?" Now it is like the role was reversed. Instead of having Yasuko herself come over to Yuya's place, it is Yuya who is coming to her house.

"I came to see you," said Yuya, still sleepy, but awake. He looks around the house that she is currently living in. "And uh…mom told me where you lived, so she was nice enough to tell me."

Yasuko figures that Diana and Yoko have already talked with each other sometime after her duel with Yuya. "What do you want?" she asked.

"I just want to talk," Yuya replied. "Can we?"

Yasuko had second thoughts of closing the door and make him wait, but then she has her second match coming up soon at nine, so she wants to make it quick. Yasuko briefly closes the door to unlock the chain before opening it wide to take in the full view of him. "What is there to talk about?" she questioned.

"About yesterday's match," Yuya answered. "How did it go?"

"I guess you could say Juliana was a senior member, I can't argue with that," Yasuko answered dryly. Unconsciously, her left-hand grips her right wrist behind her back.

Yuya didn't take a second to see that she is hiding something. "But why were hands shaking?"

Yasuko's mouth ajar, surprise of how Yuya may already discover something wrong with her performance during the official match. She doesn't know how long Yuya had watched her duel. All she knows is that Yuya may be the only person who saw her hand trembling, and in the middle of it all, she nearly lost her focus. What she can do for now is explain a little bit about what went wrong with her duel. "So…you've noticed how my hands were shaking, did you?" Yasuko questioned.

Yuya nodded. "At first, I thought you were hurt, but then, after the duel…" He had a short flashback to when Yasuko's hand was shaking even after she won her victory against Juliana. "I can't help but notice that your hand was still trembling. Weren't you satisfied with the win?"

"I was," Yasuko replied. "It's just…" She doesn't know whether to tell him, but she could say something in a particular point of view to make him understand. "It's been a while since I've been to a big match like this Arc League thing."

Yuya raised an eyebrow. "You mean you haven't participated in big tournaments before?" he asked.

Yasuko shook her head. "No. Not since the Tokyo Regional Frontiers Games." Her words aren't deceptive to Yuya's ears. He heard it clear that Yasuko spoke of the Regional Frontiers.

"The Tokyo Regional Frontier Games?!" Yuya gasped, shocked. "That's the biggest event that was always being held in Tokyo every three years! How'd you entered it?"

"I didn't," Yasuko retorted.

Yuya was surprised by how her attitude changed, knowing how the Frontier Games must be something important to her. "Sorry, it's just…I didn't know you were in it," he said. "But still, did you enter the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games three years ago?"

Yasuko's eyes narrow and look at the ground, avoiding Yuya's curious gaze. "I only entered because I received an invite," she revealed. "I was racking so many wins that some executive took my duel club notice, and poof—I got in."

Yuya's eyebrows rose up in surprise. "Duel club?" he inquired.

"At my old school, we used to have a duel club," Yasuko explained. "Pretty much everything that I've done made a reputation for me over there."

Yuya's gaze softens to understand more about the girl's past. "But you quit because you lost in the Frontier Games, didn't you?"

As expected, Yuya saw her nodding her head once. "And it was because I never passed the entrance preliminaries," Yasuko revealed.

"What do you mean you never passed the entrance preliminaries?" Yuya's questioning is getting into Yasuko's nerve. If he's heard of the Frontier Games before, then he should know how to get in. He has yet to wonder why Yasuko didn't get in.

"Serious, you've heard about it, but you never watched it?" Yasuko replies with a question of her own.

Yuya scratches the back of his neck. "I've only watched it halfway through. I never knew that there were preliminary matches." His answer tells the girl that Yuya only watched the ones who pass the preliminaries since it is a big event that it was hard to count which ones are the winner.

"Why do I even ask," Yasuko muttered lowly so that he doesn't hear her before speaking loudly. "First, why not you come in and can have breakfast, then we can talk?" Yasuko's offer makes Yuya smile over her hospitality.

* * *

After having some pancakes for breakfast, which Yasuko made by herself without burning the food thankfully, they all walk to the bus stop and wait for the transport to come to give Yasuko a ride to her next duel. Despite her protests, Yuya insists on going to watch her duel, for she is coming to the tournament to make sure that she does win. It wasn't her choice of having Yuya go with her, but he is still learning a lot of things that she knows for the Arc League Championship in about a week.

Meanwhile, Yuya wonders how Yasuko lost her way to the Frontier Games. In his head, he believes that Yasuko is a powerful duelist. She beaten Declan Akaba, the CEO of the Leo Corporation, knows how to use Pendulum Summon, do a Synchro Summon, master Xyz Summon, and utilize Fusion Summon. To Yuya, Yasuko is everything that a duelist can be. How can a good girl like her lost in the biggest tournament in the nation? He takes a glance at Yasuko, who seems to be staring off in space in front of her. There is just something else that he does not know. Yasuko mentioned that she participated in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, but there was no news or past footage of her being in it. He never recalls who were the other players who managed to get into the Frontier Games.

"Hey, Yasuko," Yuya finally called to her.

Yasuko turns her head slightly to the right. "What?" she inquired.

"When you said you didn't advance in the Frontier Games, what do you mean by that?" Yuya asked in curiosity. "I thought that the tournament had 64 players invited to the event."

"And only 32 survived," Yasuko answered.

Yuya's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Survived?"

Yasuko thought that Yuya might've been a fan of dueling, and he would always know something about significant events, but since it looked like Yuya doesn't know the details of the Frontier Games, she decides to explain some parts of the event.

"In the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, we have six hours to earn points until the timer runs out," Yasuko enlightened Yuya, the main objective of the Frontier Games preliminaries. "On the first day of the games, 64 invited participants have to duel against each other to rack up points. The 32 people with the highest points get to advance: the rest doesn't."

As Yasuko talks more about the event, the bus comes to a stop. They enter, and the transport vehicle begins to drive them to their destination.

"How'd you managed to enter the Frontier Games?" Yuya asked.

"An invite accommodation to the duel club," Yasuko explained. "I was selected as being the representative because I was the top duelist at Horyuji."

Yuya makes a small smile in delight that Yasuko did had some dueling experience at her school. "Wow, I sure wish I could've entered the Frontier Games, I bet it would be fun," he said.

Yasuko makes a skeptical expression. "Not really," she said. "It feels like a gladiator fight to the death." She rolls her eyes in the other direction. "I never wanted to get involved with big tournaments, though, they insisted I join."

"I guess they were just trying to help you become a pro," Yuya said firmly. "It was the right thing they do for you."

Yasuko sighed, hoping that Yuya was convinced of her reasoning, but he is so oblivious in knowing her past that she just said to him quickly, "Forget it, Yuya. It was all in the past."

Yuya had a concerned look on his face when Yasuko got a bit tense. He only scratched the surface, but maybe he wonders if whatever happened to her back at the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games may be the root of her attitude.

And so, for the duration of the ride, neither of them speak to each other. The silence waves a peaceful moment, except for every stop that the bus makes with some people getting in and out to be somewhere. For half an hour, the bus finally stops at their destination. "Alright, this is our stop." Yasuko gets up first and grabs her gym bag before walking out with Yuya following behind her. After getting off the bus, the boy and the girl may seem to be at the wrong place again.

Across the street is a bamboo forest that Yasuko never knew Maiami City had. She can't be sure if her second match is actually beyond the street perimeter.

"Uh…" Yuya stuttered. "Maybe this isn't the right address."

Yasuko shook her head. "No," she protested. "This is the right street address, just not the right place to set up a school."

Yuya glances at her, confused. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean it's like Strong Dojo and that weird fortune casting school you dueled in, only it is in the forest," Yasuko responded. She starts walking across to enter the bamboo forest, "Now, if you excuse me, I have a match to get to."

Yuya follows behind her. They were lucky that there is a trail in the middle of the bamboo forest; otherwise, they would've been lost. The tall bamboo trees tower over the two people, darkening their vision on the trail as they go deeper into the forest. The sunlight was completely blocked off by the leaves and the bamboo trees. Only a little light from the sunbeams through, and that wasn't enough to illuminate their way.

Yuya had to stay closer behind Yasuko to make sure that he does not get lost in an unknown place. As they continue to walk forward, something in the forest gives a loud crack, possibly a branch. He was startled and looked into the direction of where the sound of a broken branch came from. He cannot see anything, and neither can Yasuko, but the girl doesn't seem to care as she keeps walking down the trail despite the eerie sound of cracking from who knows where.

"Stay sharp," Yasuko cautioned. "I have a feeling we're being watched…" Her eyes rove around to the shadows. She could've sworn that something fast moves past the speed of light.

"Really, you think so?" Yuya inquired, looking behind to see if anyone was watching them just like Yasuko said.

"I am not," Yasuko replied sternly.

"How can you not be sure if we're being watched?" Yuya questioned vaguely.

"I don't," Yasuko replied in the same stern tone. "I just assume."

The two duelists never spoke, letting in the sound of nature come around them — the birds chirping somewhere in the forest. Small creatures run down to their holes. They walk further into the woods, and then, there was a bright light from the other side of the woods.

"I think I see the exit," Yasuko called eyes toward the light.

"Ah, finally," Yuya sighed heavily. "I was starting to wonder if we're even going in the right direction."

Yasuko and Yuya walk together to reach out to the bamboo forest. As soon as sunlight signs brightly upon them, there were taken by surprise that the duel school Yasuko has come to is a small village surrounded by a twenty-foot concrete wall. Like the Gongenzaka Dojo, there are two wooden doors with a sign that said:

 _Fūma Clan Ninjutsu Art Duel School_

Yasuko then realizes that the sign is the exact place where her second duel is coming. "Fūma Clan Ninjitsu Art Duel School," she stated. "Is every duel school inherited or something?"

Yuya shrugged. "Beats me, I've never been to this school before."

Yasuko and Yuya head towards the gate. The girl lifts her hand to give three loud knocks that echo from behind the wooden doors. Soon after, the doors mysteriously open up by themselves.

Yasuko can't tell if this was creeper than the divination duel school or just mysteriously lost by her entrance. Yasuko and Yuya exchange a look with each other before walking into the duel school.

Inside beyond the gates was something off. She felt like she time-traveled back to the Edo Period, where there are small villages, and giant temples ruled over the land. There was a stadium, but only inside the dojo styled building. Surround the building are sets of smaller ones no bigger than Yasuko's house. What's even more strange is that there is no one around them. No people. No animals. Nothing.

"Uh, hello?" Yuya called. He is getting very much worried about who is in the duel school. "Is there anybody here?"

Yasuko has a furious frown, seeing how coming to the place is all for nothing. "Great, nobody's here, and nobody isn't coming," she grumbled. "I've wasted half of my time trying to get to my second duel when there is absolutely no one to duel." She turns around and heads back to the gate. "This place is stupid."

"Uh…yeah, I don't think anybody isn't going to show," Yuya agreed.

"Halt!" Yasuko and Yuya were startled by the voice calling from behind.

They turn to the source and spot a single person standing perfectly on top of the lion statute. It was a young man, probably taller than Yasuko and Yuya. His outfit uniform resembles to be a ninja that is modernized with shoulder protectors and a headband with moon symbols tinted in black and blue. He has blue eyes and hair held in a high ponytail. His blue scarf wraps around his face like a mask. He had his arms crossed, staring down at them both. "I will not allow your words to insult the domain here at Fūma Clan," he said, straining his voice with anger.

Yasuko furrowed an eyebrow. "And who's going to stop me?" she dared. "You and your shurikens? Or maybe some blow darts to sedate me?"

The young man's eyes narrowed before he let up a hand to snap his fingers with one click. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, several dozen people, ninjas, and kunoichis (female ninjas), all swarm in and surround the two duelists. Some had shurikens. Some hold tube straws. Some had darts held like knives ready to be thrown. They all look prepared to attack Yasuko and Yuya.

Yuya got paled when he saw how fast and clean the people were armed with weapons that could hurt him; he held his hand in defense. "Hey, wait! Hold on there a minute, please!" he panicked. "There's no need to be violent with this!" He was panicking frantically.

Yasuko was calm, looking around her. She is impressed with the school's teachings. "Well, this is just great," she commented. She didn't think that her second match would be facing a ninja.

"Stop!" A loud voice boomed from the dojo-style building. All the ninjas stand down and look over to the master of the school. Yasuko followed their gaze and saw how one ninja is older than the rest. He is the headmaster of the school. He removes his mask and throws off his hood. "Moon Shadow, what did I say about using the means of violence against other people with _no_ hostile intentions?"

The ninja duelist, Moon Shadow, to Yasuko's assumption, stands down, and like a real ninja, he appears in front of his headmaster and kneels in disgrace. "Forgive me, Master Watashe," he apologized. "I was out of place for this girl, and her companion dishonored the name of the school on your grounds."

The headmaster, Watashi, stares down at his student. "I trust you can keep yourself in check, especially since this girl here is the opponent of out today's match," he stated firmly, which causes Moon Shadow to look up in surprise.

"What?" he inquired before he glances back to Yasuko and Yuya. "You mean this is Yasuko Yukihana of the You-Show Duel School?"

"There is a thing called e-mail, Moon Shadow; don't forget," Watashi reminded before walking down a few steps and approaches to the girl and boy. "I apologize if my students feel offended by your comments, Mrs. Yukihana. They believe that the Fūma Clan Duel School name is at their utmost importance."

Yasuko raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips. "I suppose they honor it," she assumed.

Watashi gives a small laugh. "Indeed, they do," he agreed.

"Yuya! Yasuko!"

The girl never thought of hearing the three little You-Show trio to come over to them in such a hurry.

"Hey, Yasuko!" Tate called, waving his hand to her.

"Yasuko!" Fredrick yelled. "It's so good to see you again."

Allie comes over to Yasuko to hug her around her waist. "Hi, Yasuko!" she beamed.

Yasuko pats the little red-haired girl on her head. "Hi there, Allie." It was odd for her to get used to being hugged by a 7-year-old as she doesn't have any problems with them. "Everyone came?"

"Yep." Zuzu was walking down the stairs to see her and Yuya. "We all wanted to make sure that you win this match and get into the Arc League Championship. You know, I never thought you were going to make it since the Arc League is in five days."

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly to find any trace of Sora. "Where's the candy boy?" she asked.

Zuzu makes a smile for her. "Sora's out for the day," she said. "And now that you are here, the least we can do cheer you on," she said firmly. "You are a You-Show student, and we all owe you."

Yasuko lightly pushed away from the little red girl for her to move inside. "I appreciate that, Zuzu," she said.

The You-Show students enter the temple, but there was no rooftop. The stadium was cleaned and ready, where a lone ninja was standing in the center with his arms crossed, waiting for her arrival. He was silver-white from the headband covering his black hair to the shoes. He had a gray sash around his waist and gray mask that covers over his mouth like Moon Shadow.

He turns to see Yasuko entering the arena with his brown eyes. "Welcome, Mrs. Yukihana of the You-Show Duel School," he greeted. "I am Lightning Wolf, the Senior-Class member of the Arc League."

Yasuko's eyebrows rose in curiosity. So, her opponent is a ninja, and when he said he is in a 'Senior,' it would mean that he is in a higher class as Juliana. "It's…an honor?" she hesitated. "So, you're my opponent, huh?" She turns her head away slightly and murmured to Yuya and Zuzu, "I swear, it's like I'm in one of those tv shows where some blonde dude is a god among men and women of ninjas and becomes a master character while some other dude is an anti-hero."

Yuya and Zuzu had their eyebrows raised in confusion. "What?" said Yuya.

Yasuko enters the duel arena while some spectators watched on from the distances. All of You-Show is standing there watching Yasuko begin to duel. The girl stops and stands in front of Lightning Wolf.

A sudden pop of smoke explodes between then and comes Master Watashe with his ninja regalia swishing behind the winds. "Welcome, guests and spectators, to the Fūma Clan Duel School," he announced to the audience of ninjas and the You-Show. "Here, the Fūma Clan has always been the proctor of Ninjutsu. It is a tradition that we of the Fūma Clan have been teaching for centuries. Learning the Art of Ninjutsu is the same as Dueling. In Dueling, you must be as fast as the speed of light, precise as your eyes see their targets and silent as the winds itself. That is everything that the Fūma Clan stands for. In the Art of ninjutsu and Dueling, they are one." The headmaster pops smoke and disappears as it fades into thin air. Yasuko looks around to find the headmaster standing with the rest of the spectators from a distance. "Now, let us begin," Master Watashe declared. "I activate the Action Field Spell, Ninja Village Sanctuary!" Master Watashi activates the Action Field Spell, **Ninja Village Sanctuary**.

The stadium where Yasuko and Lightning Wolf stands is transforming into a village with many banners surrounded by the highest mountains with a river down below. The sky itself is blue, and the hills have surrounded the entire village.

Yasuko can finally find some relief for the second match since many of the students aren't noisy like the last ones. They are honorable enough not to let one of their own be distracted by the cheering. Of course, there were the You-Show students who decided to come in and give her "support," which she does not need.

Her eyes are set on her opponent. "Let's get this over with," Yasuko said. "I don't want to waste time."

"Two Duelist locked in an epic battle!" Lightning Wolf chanted.

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air!" Yasuko announced.

"Fighting alongside with their monsters!" Lightning Wolf added.

"Witness, the greatest evolution of dueling!" They chorused together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Lightning Wolf (LP 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!**_ "

The Action Cards in the bubble disperses, spreading across the field to signify the start of the duel. With five cards in their hands, the first move goes to Lightning Wolf since he is the sponsor for the duel.

 **Turn 1: Lightning Wolf (5x cards)**

"The first move goes to me, Yukihana," said Lightning Wolf. He looks down at the hand setup before he commences his first move. "I summon Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo!" Lightning Wolf Normal Summons **Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**. From the ground, a black-robed, armored cladding ninja with symbols on his shoulders, knees, and wrists pops out and jumps on top of one statute beside Lightning Wolf.

"I activate Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo's special effect," Lightning Wolf exclaimed. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one "Ninjutsu Arts" from my deck and add it to my hand." The deck from his duel disk ejects one card that Lightning Wolf has chosen and takes it out before he Sets three cards face-down.

"I Set three cards face-down and end my turn," Lightning Wolf concluded.

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko felt like she was dueling against Yuto when he sets three of his own face-down. She wonders what Lightning Wolf's game is. "It's my turn now, I draw!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. She looks down at which card that she can use and later, so she chose to Set two cards first.

"I Set two cards face-down," she said. "And I summon Assault Wyvern!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**. A blue wyvern flies up from the portal on the ground and flats behind Yasuko.

Her eyes turn around to find any Action Cards in the open. Luckily, there was one hanging on by a branch on top of a blossom tree. She runs for it very fast. As she sprints closer, Yasuko digs her foot against the tree bark and does a wall-run up before catching the Action Card with her two fingers and falling on the crouch position.

"Battle!" she declared. "Assault Wyvern, attack Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo!" The blue wyvern makes a mad charge for the grandmaster ninja with its horns sticking out, ready to pierce the monster. "I activate the Action Spell Card, Charge Recklessly!" Yasuko activates the Action Card; **Charge Recklessly**. "This card gives my monster an additional 600 ATK points during the damage calculation!" The blue wyvern glows blue aura around the edges as it gains extra attack points thanks to Yasuko.

 **(Assault Wyvern: ATK 1800** → **2400)**

Lightning Wolf anticipates her move and makes a counterattack. "Bad move, Trap activated! Ninjutsu Art of Decoy!" Lightning Wolf activates his face-down Continuous Trap Card; **Ninjutsu Art of Decoy**. "This trap card lets me target one "Ninja" monster on the field, and it cannot be destroyed in battle!"

Yasuko grits her teeth in angry, knowing that her monster's effect is useless unless it destroys a monster. "Even so, you still take damage," she reminded.

The grandmaster ninja takes out his ninjatō and swiftly jumps to intercept the horns of her blue wyvern with his blade. The monster isn't destroyed, but the shockwave has hit Lightning Wolf for the damage.

 **(Lightning Wolf: LP 4000** → **3400)**

"I end my turn," Yasuko concluded. "And that means Assault Wyvern's ATK points return to normal."

 **(Assault Wyvern: ATK 2400** → **1800)**

 **Turn 3: Lighting Wolf (2x cards)**

The grandmaster ninja comes back to stand on the statue with Lightning Wolf tightening his gaze at Yasuko under his mask. "You think you know your way how to navigate in Action Duels?" he questioned, which cause the girl to narrow her eyes on him.

"What?" Yasuko inquired.

"When your monster clashed with mine, I can feel the spark was ignited already," said Lightning Wolf. "You should know in every duel; the way of the Duelist is to be patient with your cards in the end." As the winds blew the pink petals from a nearby blossom tree, Lightning Wolf and his ninja monster suddenly vanished in thin air.

Yasuko blinks once before looking around the buildings that surround her and her monster. Cautiously, she takes a step back to find him anywhere. As she continues to walk again, Lightning Wolf speaks clearly from somewhere. "You have the heart and courage of what a true duelist can be, but you have yet already rushed in like a wolf taking its prey quick to fend off its starving belly."

Yasuko turns left to the wooden store, but he was not there. She tried the stone wall fence, but Lightning Wolf is not there. Dueling against a ninja is going to be difficult for Yasuko.

"Though we are taught to be precise and fast, it is also taught in the Fūma Clan to be patient with yourself and with your opponent," Lightning Wolf called.

Yasuko can hear the shrubs being moved, and something fast zooms up. Yasuko looks at the bush before she found the two shadows. Looking up, she spots Lightning Wolf and his grandmaster ninja, all standing on top of the tree.

"Ninja, please, you are not the only one who knows how to do flips and tricks, so make your move already," Yasuko called back, annoyed. "You're wasting my time."

"Don't you have patience?" Lightning Wolf questioned. "Very well, I shall proceed, but don't expect me to be slow, I'll be quick." He swiftly draws a card from his deck. "It's my turn! I draw!" He takes a look at it and adds it to his hand before he plays a card. "I Summon Yellow Ninja!" Lightning Wolf Normal Summons **Yellow Ninja (ATK 1900/DEF 1800)**. A yellow-olive ninja wearing an armor shoulder pads and a blue scarf jumps up from the portal on the ground and stands on top of the tree with the duelist and his grandmaster ninja.

"Now, I activate Yellow Ninja's special effect!" Lightning Wolf exclaimed. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or below "Ninja" monster from my hand in Attack or face-down Defense position, and I choose to Special Summon this monster!" Using his monster's effect, Lightning Wolf Special Summons **Upstart Golden Ninja (ATK 500/DEF 1800)**. "Upstart Golden Ninja!" From on top of the tree leaves, a very big ninja wearing a blue night vest and black bodysuit appears from out of nowhere and stands on top of the tree branch above the duelist.

"I activate Upstart Golden Ninja's special effect!" Lightning Wolf added. "Once per turn, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or below "Ninja" monster from my Deck by sending a Trap Card from my hand to the graveyard." Lightning Wolf discards his Trap Card; **Ninjutsu Art of Shadow Sealing** to his graveyard to Special Summon one more ninja monster; **Lady Ninja Yae (ATK 1100/DEF 200)**.

"I send my Ninjutsu Art of Shadow Sealing to the graveyard to Special Summon Lady Ninja Yae from my deck," Lightning Wolf announced, taking out the card from his deck to summon a female kunoichi wearing a purple wardrobe with green hair, eyes, and holding a small sword in her hand.

The You-Show students were watching the duel with a nervous feeling, hoping that Yasuko can make a comeback.

"Oh, wow," said Zuzu. "Four monsters in one turn; that guy is something."

"I know," Yuya agreed. "And that could mean trouble."

Lightning Wolf makes his move. "Scatter!" At once, the wolf ninja duelist and the other ninja monsters disappear from the tree branch in a blink of an eye.

Yasuko knows what is coming and hurries over out of the temple to get outside in the opening of the ninja village. The blue wyvern lowers down, and Yasuko hops on. She holds on tight as the blue wyvern makes a swift whoosh up to the sky. Even though it was a day outside, the night of the Action Field is still hard to see in such a big field.

Her low pigtails flaps behind her head as Yasuko searches for any Action Cards in the open or Lightning Wolf. Considering that the guy is as fast as a real ninja, it would seem that Yasuko is going to have to use her parkour skills to outrun the white ninja.

"You fight like you are charging with a spear forward." Lightning Wolf sounded off from somewhere. "You never had a second thought of what your opponent is trying to do."

Yasuko narrows her eyes with annoyance. "You don't know a thing about me," she said. "And it's called a pre-emptive strike."

"Such words will never be a part of your competence," Lightning Wolf replied.

Yasuko scrutinized her eyebrows in confusion. "What?"She didn't get an immediate response, only the declaration from the white ninja.

"I activate the Trap! Ninjitsu Art of Transformation!" Lightning Wolf plays his face-down Continuous Trap Card; **Ninjutsu Art of Transformation**. "This card lets me tribute one "Ninja" monster to Special Summon one Winged-Beast, Insect, or Beast-type monster from my Deck whose Level is total or equal to the monster that I tribute plus 3!"

The portly ninja makes a backflip before he disappears into thin air with a puff. The deck from Lightning Wolf ejects one card, and he places it on his disk. "I release my Upstart Golden Ninja to Special Summon Black Dragon Ninja!" By using the trap card, Lightning Wolf sends his big portly ninja to Special Summon **Black Dragon Ninja (ATK 2800/DEF 1600)**. A puff of smoke pops out of nowhere, and a purple suited ninja with brown hair, and a three-claw gauntlet appears to take the portly ninja's place.

"Now, I can activate Black Dragon Ninja's special effect!" Lightning Wolf added. "Once per turn, I can send one "Ninjutsu Art" and one "Ninja" monster from my hand or face-up on the field to banish one of your monsters! I send my Ninjitsu Art of Decoy and Lady Ninja Yae" Lightning Wolf sends his kunoichi and the face-up trap card to the graveyard to activate the black ninja's effect. The face-up trap card and the female kunoichi disappears. "And I banish your Assault Wyvern from the field!"

Yasuko's blue wyvern disappears into dust, causing the girl to fall from the sky in shock. "Oh, crap!" she cursed.

The You-Show students gasped that the ninja duelist was able to strike down the blue wyvern despite Yasuko holding it back.

"Oh no!" the three kids gasped in shock.

"Yasuko has no monsters now!" Yuya inhaled.

Yasuko focuses herself on landing on the house. She keeps her body facing forward, and her knees bend before she lands down and does a parkour roll on the rooftop. From there, she found herself sliding down on the roof before she lifts herself to jump over the house to another one. Her elbows impact on top as she lifts herself back up and runs on the roof.

"Now, you are wide open, Yasuko Yukihana," said Lightning Wolf, running from the opposite side of the houses. "I was expecting a challenge, but seeing you now is such a disappointment." His eyes shun with great dissatisfaction with the duel. "Ninjas, attack Yukihana directly!" Lightning Wolf commanded. At once, the ninjas all jumped up into the air to take a strike at Yasuko.

Yasuko hurries to jump over one house to another. She rolls on top carefully to avoid any slips to make her fall. She continues to run over one more building with Lightning Wolf keeping up with her.

"I activate the Trap! Half or Nothing!" Yasuko plays her face-down Trap Card; **Half or Nothing**. "You have to choose only one of these two effects! Either you halve all of your monster's ATK points until the end of your Battle Phase, or End your Battle Phase!"

Lightning Wolf had two of the toughest choices that he has to make, but he is still going to slaughter the girl. "I choose to halve all of my monster's ATK points!"

The ninjas pursuing the girl are depowered by all of their attack power due to Yasuko's trap card.

 **(Black Dragon Ninja** : **ATK 2800** → **1400)**

 **(Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo** : **ATK 1800** → **900)**

 **(Yellow Ninja** : **ATK 1900** → **950)**

The yellow ninja throws a couple of shurikens; the grandmaster throws dozens of kunai, and the black dragon unleashed a slashing wave to Yasuko's back from behind. The girl sprints ahead and makes a big leap over the house as she flies across the wide gap and descends. Maybe it was a mistake to make her jump over something very steep. She aims for the rooftop of one of the houses down below. She plants her feet together and braces herself.

Yasuko grunt with a roll down. She lands on the rooftop, nearly cause herself to crash on it and slides down before falling to the solid ground. The weapons thrown at her seemed to miss her, but it did inflict damage.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **750)**

Tate is shocked that Yasuko already has fewer life points and is hanging on by the balance. "That can't be good!" he gasped.

"Her life points!" Frederick gulped.

Lightning Wolf jumps down from a nearby tree where the river streams around. His eyes narrow slightly in annoyance. "How persistence you are giving," he said. "And because my Battle Phase has ended, all of my monster's ATK points return to Normal." Since the attack was over, the ninjas are back in full power.

 **(Black Dragon Ninja** : **ATK 1400** → **2800)**

 **(Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo** : **ATK 900** → **1800)**

 **(Yellow Ninja** : **ATK 950** → **1900)**

"I end my turn. I have nothing more to do for now," Lightning Wolf finished.

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (3x cards)**

Yasuko manages to get back on land and makes a run for the village, hoping to find more Action Cards. From there, she stops and takes a look around. She could've sworn that Lightning Wolf is watching her close by. She cannot tell. All she can see is the moonlight from the sky, shining the objects that expand the shadows.

"You don't believe that you can finish the duel quick with just one swoop of destroying my monster after your turn," Lightning Wolf called, somewhere near her presence.

Yasuko turns to the corner, but there was no Lightning Wolf or his ninjas. "You have no patience for everything." She can hear the voice of Lightning Wolf coming from somewhere. The ninja duelist is like a shadow of the darkness. He appears and reappears in a different place.

"You always rush into things, hoping to finish something quickly." Yasuko is sure enough that Lightning Wolf is either talking or taunting; she couldn't tell. "Why is that?"

"None of your business," Yasuko replied. "I have my reasons."

"So, no reason why you are always rushing?" Lightning Wolf questioned. "That is your greatest weakness, Yukihana. If you only learned to understand patience, then you would be able to win your match. But sadly, you will be leading yourself to your downfall if you continue to end this quick."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the shadows underneath the village. "So, what you're saying is that I am not patient enough to beat you?" she questioned Lightning Wolf. "We all go for the same thing. You are trying to beat me, and I'm trying to beat you. There is no patience with that. It's a duel, a sport kind of thing. Not a workout routine."

Yasuko runs to another alleyway and makes a short wall run over a large stone wall. She climbs over and hops down before running away. After she tick-tac over another wall, Yasuko makes a long jump from the dirt road and onto the roof of a house. After jumping, she continues to move downward, hopping on one rooftop after another, and while doing so, she swipes an Action Card that was on one.

"Indeed, I am not patient to make my moves," Yasuko admitted. "And yes, I never was easy-going, but what I do know is in duels, there is no patience with anyone else. If my opponent is a dick about what kind of philosophy crap is there, I don't care."

Yasuko makes a short leap over a slanted house before she jumps down to the road and runs out in the opening of the rice fields. She stops and abruptly turns around to see the whole neighborhood on a hill. She knows that Lightning Wolf is very close by and it was time to end the duel right here and now.

"It's my turn now! I draw!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. She looks at it, and it was clear that victory is already at her hand. "If you think I don't have the patience for anything, then what you're implying about is wrong," she deduced. "You're going have to learn that I'm never patience in a duel!" Yasuko takes out one card from her hand and Normal Summons **Dragon Knight of Creation (ATK 1800/DEF 600)**.

"I Summon the Dragon Knight of Creation!" Yasuko declared. On her field, a hole opens up on the ground, and out comes the gold-plated knight without chest armor revealing his six-pack abs with white fabric around his hips down to his legs while holding a large sword in front of him.

Lightning Wolf emerges from one of the shadows hiding beneath a tree and jumps out to reveal himself. "You will not do such a thing! I activate the Trap Card! Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation!" Lightning Wolf activates one of his face-down Continuous Trap Card; **Ninjitsu Art of Super Transformation**.

"This card lets me tribute one "Ninja" monster on my field, and one of your monsters on your side of the field to the graveyard and that lets me Special Summon one Dragon, Dinosaur, or Sea Serpent monster from my Deck whose Level is equal to the number of monsters I send!" Lightning Wolf raises his hand to Yasuko. "I am going to block every one of your hope to victory! I send your Dragon Knight of Creation, and my Ninja Grandmaster Hanzo to the graveyard!"

The dragon knight and the grandmaster disappear into dust as Lightning Wolf's card ejects a card that he has chosen. He takes it out and shows Yasuko his most powerful card. "I Special Summon Yellow Dragon Ninja!" With that Lightning Wolf Special Summons **Yellow Dragon Ninja (ATK 3000/DEF 1500)**. The ground opens up, and something fast zips out like it was a rabbit. Standing beside Lightning Wolf is an olive-skinned ninja with long black hair wearing a gold ninja outfit holding a knuckle weapon in his right hand.

"Now, I activate Yellow Dragon Ninja's special effect!" Lightning Wolf declared. "Once per turn, I can send one "Ninja" monster from my field and one "Ninjitsu Art" card from my hand or face-up on the field to the graveyard to destroy up to 2 Spell or Trap Cards on the field!"

Yasuko is gritting her teeth in frustration, feeling very ticked by him and his moves. "Damn it," she cursed.

"I send my Yellow Ninja in my field and my Hidden Village of Ninjitsu Art from my hand to the graveyard to destroy your Mirror Wall and your face-down card!" Lightning Wolf's trap card creates a small tornado that destroys Yasuko's only means of defense.

Allie had a horrified gasp come out of her mouth. "No way!"

Tate's eyes are wide with terror. "Yasuko's completely wide open again!"

"I can't believe it!" Frederick cried, covering his eyes in fright.

Yuya is starting to have a very dreadful feeling inside his gut that Yasuko is not going to win against someone who was from the Senior class. Lightning Wolf is more experienced than Yasuko.

Zuzu also has a terrible feeling that the girl is not going to make it through her second match. The conditions are to get six consecutive wins with no losses, and if Yasuko loses, then she is not going to make it to the Arc League. Unconsciously, she holds a hand to her chest in concern. "Yasuko…" Zuzu whispered.

Meanwhile, Lightning Wolf closes his eyes, feeling very strong with his last move. "Face it, Yukihana. This is what happens when you get reckless," he lectured. "I warned you. If you continue to duel like what you are, then you are never going to achieve results."

While everyone seems to be very concerned, Yasuko isn't worried; in fact, she was very calm. Her eyes didn't leak a small ounce of weakness and defeat. She held her head high with confidence. "Results?" she questioned. "It seems that you did get me results, and that would be beating you."

Lightning Wolf opens his eyes in confusion. "What?"

The cynical girl then narrows her eyes down at her opponent. "My last face-down was destroyed, so I can finally activate its effect!" she declared, which confuses the crowd and the You-Show audience. The face-down reappears back on the field and reveals itself to Lightning Wolf that it was a Trap Card called **Waking the Dragon**.

"The face-down card that you destroyed is called Waking the Dragon," Yasuko explained. "If this Set card leaves the field and is in the graveyard because of my opponent's effect, I can Special Summon one monster from my deck!"

Yasuko can see the surprising shock from Lightning Wolf's eyes behind his mask. "From your Deck!"

The audience had their mouths open in shock too. They didn't expect Yasuko to set up a plan right at the beginning of the duel.

"That's right!" Yasuko exclaimed. "And I think I'll choose to Special Summon this new fellow!" Yasuko chooses the monster that she selected, and her deck ejects one card to make her swipe it and plays it on her disk. "Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!"

By using her trap card, Yasuko was able to Special Summon **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon** **(ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**. From the sky above comes forth a red dragon with silver flaps underneath its wings and heterochromia red and green eyes. Its roar echoes across the valley as it flies a shadow over the girl before landing down to stand beside its master.

"Now, it comes down to my very last card!" Yasuko takes a card that was in her hand and activates her Quick-Play Spell Card; **Dragon's Fighting Spirit**. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell Card! Dragon's Fighting Spirit!" said Yasuko. "And I'll chain it with my second Quick-Play Spell, Gravity's Lash!" After her first spell card, Yasuko chains it with her second spell, **Gravity Lash**. "With Gravity Lash, I target one face-up monster on the field, and that monster loses ATK points equal to its DEF points, so that means your Yellow Ninja's gonna lose all of his ATK points!" The spell card zaps a green lightning bolt that hits the yellow ninja, effectively weakening him.

 **(Yellow Dragon Ninja: ATK 3000** → **1500)**

The whole You-Show audience was surprisingly shocked when they saw Yasuko's advanced dragon. It was a different type of Odd-Eyes that they never knew before. Their eyes are as wide as biscuits, mouths ajar, and breathless.

"Whoa, look at that!" Allie gasped.

"Another Odd-Eyes?!" Tate inhaled. "I never knew she had _that_ card."

"It's got me the shivers!" Frederick exclaimed, while his body gives a slight quaver.

Yuya stares at the advance dragon with a flabbergasted feeling inside of his gut. It was terrific how Yasuko has an evolved version of his Odd-Eyes Dragon. Deep down, he wants to know how Yasuko was able to obtain an 'Odd-Eyes' like her phantom dragon or the other Odd-Eyes card. Speaking of, he notices that Yasuko isn't using her Pendulum Cards. If she has Pendulum Cards like him, he wonders why Yasuko isn't using them.

Lightning Wolf is starting to feel sweat build up inside of his mask. "Don't tell me…" he uttered. "You…you planned this from the beginning?"

Yasuko inclined her head. "Well, duh? I told you I have no patience in duels because I'm already prepared for using the cards I need to win," she responded. "Maybe because you were always trying to talk me out of it that you never see what lies in front of you."

The white ninja raised an eyebrow. "So, what was that first spell card you played do?" he asked, never hearing such a card before.

"Here, let me explain how this card works," Yasuko suggested. "Dragon's Fighting Spirit targets one Dragon-type monster that I control that was Special Summoned this turn, and for every monster that you control that was Special Summoned, this card gives Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon an additional attack for each monster that was Summoned."

Lightning Wolf realized something in the last move he made before. "And because I summoned Yellow Dragon Ninja on my field," he panicked.

"That's right," Yasuko affirmed. "Which means Odd-Eyes gets to have a second attack!" She points her finger at the two ninja monsters. "Battle! Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon, attack Black Dragon Ninja and Yellow Dragon Ninja!" The advance dragon spreads its wings open and flies straight for the attack. Lightning Wolf makes a break for the village, but in doing so, has him got an opening for the dragon.

"Advance Form Strike!" Yasuko exclaimed as the dragon opens its mouth to unleash a full blast of a crimson red helix beam straight for Lightning Wolf. He manages to escape into the village just in the nick of time, but the helix beam splits into two large laser beams that disintegrated the ninjas and blasted through the village, destroying everything in its path.

The blast was so vast that it gives the audience a little light show scene from the duel. Its destructive power decimated the entire landscape leaving nothing but rubble and piles of rock. As the girl starts in front of her, Lightning Wolf suddenly emerged from one of the rumbles with his Life Points in critical.

 **(Lightning Wolf: LP 3400** → **1700)**

The white ninja grunts whole holding his abdomen area. "I'm still alive," he proclaimed.

"Not for long," Yasuko rebuked. She takes out her only Action Card in her hand and plays the Action Spell Card; **Gravity Turn**. "I activate the Action Spell; Gravity Turn. When I destroy a monster in battle, this card gives my Odd-Eyes another attack, only this time, it gains 100 extra ATK points as an added bonus." Odd-Eyes Advance glows under a bright yellow aura in response to the Action Card.

 **(Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon: ATK 3000** → **3100)**

Yasuko raises her hand to the white ninja. "And that means Odd-Eyes gets to attack you directly!"

Odd-Eyes Advance powers up its mouth and unleashes a second helix red beam down to Lightning Wolf. The duelist looks at his opponent. Her cool and calm gaze made him realize that even if she isn't always keen on waiting for her opponent, she was observing him and how he was playing. It would seem that even he doesn't have patience with his dueling. He didn't think that someone in the Junior class would be able to beat him, a member of the Senior Class.

He closes his eyes as the crimson helix beam strikes a major explosion on him, depleting all of his life points.

 **(Lightning Wolf: LP 100** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The Action Field disperses into millions of clouds of dust as it reverts back to its temple stadium. Some of the ninja and kunoichis express their shame that their best member was defeated. As the field disappears, Yasuko can see Lightning Wolf kneeling down in shame. His head bows in total regret.

"Alright, Yasuko won!" The girl turns her head around to find herself getting tackled with hugs from the three kids.

"You did it, Yasuko!" Tate cheered. "You've managed to win your second match!"

"Ah, you were giving me the goosebumps when you make a comeback with Odd-Eyes!" Frederick shivered.

"That was so amazing back there, Yasuko!" Allie beamed.

Yasuko gives a pat on Allie's head while looking down at the three kids. "I have something to do over there, and I cannot waste the opportunity to do so." She pushes aside the kids gently as Yasuko comes up to see Yuya and Zuzu approaching her.

"You did it," said Zuzu, giving her a beam.

The girl nodded. "Of course, I did it," she replied. "I wasn't gonna let anybody stops me."

Yuya then comes up shortly after. His smile tells how grateful he is for her victory. "I'm glad that you win." He is sure enough that if Yasuko can keep it up, then she can make it to the Arc League before the deadline.

"I wasn't going to let the ninja beat me, and I cannot stop here," said Yasuko.

"Still, though," Yuya pondered. "Why didn't you make a Synchro Summon? We all know that you can Synchro Summon, so can you do any other summons like–oh, I don't know–an Xyz Summon or Fusion?"

Yasuko gives the boy a deadpanned look. "I know when to use it or not," she said. Yasuko glances over and spots Master Watashe and Lightning Wolf approaching to the group. The three little kids scoot out of the way for the adult to see Yasuko. "I must say, I am impressed," he amused. "I have never met anyone who is from the Junior class to beat someone who is a member of the Senior class."

Lightning Wolf bowed his head slightly. "Yes, it is quite rare to find someone who is underage and managed to beat the elder who has experience. How long has it been since you've managed to duel in a tournament?" he asked out of curiosity.

"Hard to say," Yasuko pretended, letting the information of her involvement with the Regional Frontier Games to be only to Yuya. "It's been way too long."

"You are excellent, and I must say, you are very impressive," Lightning Wolf commented. "You Set that first two face-downs and timed it perfectly to finish me off. Perhaps, you do have some way to be patient."

Yasuko shrugs it off. "I never timed anything really," she replied. "I'm just a girl who wants to get things over with." And with that, she turns around to head out of the school. "I'm going to get some ramen; I feel like I could use some after experiencing some ninja stuff today." Without turning back, she asked the You-Show group, "Any of you want some ramen?"

"I want some!" Allie agreed.

"Me too!" Tate joined.

"Seeing so many flips and jump makes my stomach yearn," Frederick added.

"I'm not paying; Zuzu's paying this time," Yasuko called much to Zuzu's dismay.

"Hey!" Zuzu protested, earning a laugh from the You-Show students.

The You-Show students walk out of the temple to find their way out. While doing so, Lightning Wolf pulls his mask down and glances over to his master.

"What do you think of her, this Yasuko person that you received?" he asked.

Master Watashi smiles gently, looking on at the duelist's back. "I think she may have skills that are far greater than anyone else here, Lightning Wolf." His eyes suddenly rove to Moon Shadow, who was kneeling on his left.

"Moon Shadow?" he inquired.

"Master," Moon Shadow responded. "We have a phone call saying he wishes to speak with you." Moon Shadow raises his head. "His name is Claude." The master raises an eyebrow in curiosity.

* * *

 **Alright, so here's duel number 2. Duel number 3 will be next. Not a lot of favorable decks, but at least I'm using them. I have other things to consider for different decks that haven't appeared in anime before, so I'm going to be using them to their fullest as I can. Anyways, I hoped, you readers, are having a beautiful day because I am so packed for the week and the next week. We all have our ups and downs, so don't you worry and hold your tongues, because I'm going to make sure that these four more matches are going to be epic. Stay tuned, readers!**


	26. Chapter 26: Strategic Advantage

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 26: Strategic Advantage; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Jeremy Lawns_

* * *

It was back to business as usual at Maiami Prep Middle School. While the teacher makes lectures, Yasuko felt like she can sleep all day. Currently, she is taking a long nap behind the open book in front of her.

With every duel Yasuko attends, it is giving her body a couple of slowdowns. She had to take freezing showers to cool down. The Arc League Championship is coming up in four days, and she needs all the rest that she can get if she wants to settle a score with Melania. So far, it was already the second victory for her. Only four more to go. She hopes that her opponents would be more comfortable than the last two. Juliana was tough on her Xyz Summon surprise, and Lightning Wolf is fast on his feet. She wants someone easy enough to beat with a one-turn kill move.

The bell rings to wake Yasuko out of her nap to signify the end of the day. Yasuko packs up her things into her book back. As she packs, Yuya calls from behind her. "Yasuko," he said.

The girl lifts her head up to face him. "Are you excited about your third match?" Yuya asked. "It's right after school, is it?"

The girl shrugged. "I don't get excited in such short notice," Yasuko replied. "I'm more likely to just get into the chase." She packs up her book bag quickly. Checking the time of her match, it is close to about 3:13, and her match is at 4 o'clock.

Zuzu was finishing up with her stuff. She looked at Yasuko and said, "Good luck on your third match today, Yasuko." She then turns to Yuya. "Oh, and I'll see you tomorrow, Yuya."

Yuya notices that Zuzu is leaving the other direction. "Huh? You're not coming?" he asked.

Zuzu glances to her best friend from over her shoulder. She had a disappointed look on her face that regrets her decision not to come and watch Yasuko duel. "As much as I want to see Yasuko win, I have to get ready for the Arc League Championship. I'm working on my deck to see which ones are going to be important." She then stared to Yasuko. "I hope you don't mind if I leave right when your match is about to start."

Yasuko makes a shrug off her shoulder as if she doesn't care if Zuzu comes over to see her duel. "I don't care; really, I don't," she responded.

Zuzu makes a small satisfied smile from her mouth. "I see, well, then…good luck, Yasuko!" She beamed before taking off.

Alone with Yuya, Yasuko ponders her head what is with Zuzu over the past few weeks. Usually, she would be scowling at her for her discourteous attitude. But then Zuzu is starting to act nicer than she was before. She wonders if Diana had to do with anything.

"What's with her?" Yasuko asked, slinging her book bag over her shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Yuya inquired.

Yasuko starts walking off from the classroom, and the boy follows close behind. While they walk, Yasuko starts to converse with Yuya about Zuzu's recent behavior regarding herself.

"I've noticed how Zuzu is trying to be nice to me even though I say some horrible things," said Yasuko. Her eyes swing one look over to Yuya. "Ever since I dueled you," Yasuko began, "your people have always been coming to my matches."

Yuya looks ahead, thinking back of the one good deed that Yasuko has done for You-Show. "It's because you save our school from the Leo Institute," he assumed. "You could say that we all owe you for doing that favor."

"Oh…" Yasuko replied.

The two duelists exit out of the school and walk down the hill to the bus stop. Yasuko glances back at Yuya with a curious look. It's not like him to be attending her matches every so often. She could win without having Yuya to see her.

"You know," said Yasuko. "You don't have to do this; I'm perfectly fine without you watching my matches."

Yuya raises an eyebrow in surprise. "But Yasuko, I want to see your duels."

"But I'll never have time to teach you the other two Extra Deck summoning methods," Yasuko questioned. "You've already got down Fusion Summon, but you have yet to learn Synchro and Xyz Summon."

Yasuko turns her head back to face the road. Eventually, the two duelists come across the bus stop and wait for the scheduled transport vehicle to arrive. Hopefully, Yasuko can make it to the duel school on time. She can't help but be irritated by why Nico Smiley set up an exhibition match right after school.

"True, I know we're lacking behind in the Xyz and Synchro, but at least you can do is teach me through your words." Yuya makes a smile on his face while looking on. "I'm not a fast learner, and the one who would leave a friend of my own behind to deal with dueling all by herself."

Yasuko turns to Yuya. She has no annoyance in her face. It's not that she doesn't hate him; it's just his attitude that is often annoying to her. Yuya is the oddest person that she has ever met. If anyone has common sense, they know that Yasuko is never to be the one who is interested in socialization, but not for Yuya. He never walks away and forgets her. He is persistence. He seems very enthusiastically happy to be with her despite how much they differ from each other.

"I suppose it's for the best," said Yasuko. "Though do me one thing, Yuya."

Yuya makes a small humming sound. "And what's that?" he asked.

"Just don't cheer for me," Yasuko demanded. "I'd rather you be so kind as to watch my duel."

Yuya blinks in surprise. "Uh…" He wanted to know why until he recalls something. When Yasuko's hand was shaking, Yuya almost forgot that the girl hasn't got used to being in front of large audiences like a stadium. He wants to be there to support her.

It didn't take long for the transport vehicle to arrive. After Yasuko and Yuya enter the bus, they take a seat and watch other directions as the bus takes them to the duel school. Yasuko uses the traveling time to take a nap for her match.

The boy was thinking back to the recent duels over the past few days. He wants to know why Yasuko isn't using her Pendulum Cards. She has Pendulum cards just like him, but she isn't using them.

Yuya wants to wake her and ask, but then Yasuko deserves some rest after dueling for two days. He can ask later when she wakes up. For another fifteen minutes, the bus makes a lurching halt at its station.

Yuya grips Yasuko's shoulder to shake her. "Hey, Yasuko, we're here."

Yasuko flutters her eyes open before removing a bang from her eyes. "Oh, okay." She takes her book bag and hulls out of the bus with Yuya behind her. As soon as they exit, the bus leaves.

Yasuko and Yuya turn around and finds her third match to be very bizarre. The duel school that Yasuko was supposed to go is unlike any other ones. The sight of the school makes her raise one eyebrow and open a small hole in her mouth with disgust. "Okay, this city is friggin' weird," she commented.

The duel school looks almost like it's a high-tech military complex with a large arena in the back. The entrance had a gate with two flag poles sandwiching the two glass doors. There as a big advertisement sign on top of the building.

 _Strategic Officer Duel School_

The girl faces to Yuya. "Since when did the Army started recruiting people to Duel?" Yasuko wondered.

Yuya scratches the back of his head in confusion. "Beats me," he said. "I didn't know they were enlisting."

Yasuko sighed in annoyance. "I swear these duel schools never seem to have it normal." She felt like she wanted to pinch the area between her eyes to stop the irritating feeling coming from her brain.

Yuya makes a small laugh. "You should've seen my duels," he said. "I mean, I was in a duel where I have to take a pop-quiz every time."

Yasuko lets out a breath. "Why do I even bother?" Yasuko is sure enough that seeing one too many duels with different fads are implanting into her head.

They enter the sliding doors, and the first thing that they see is that a woman receptionist was typing on a computer. It was like Sonic Wing's front entrance.

Yasuko and Yuya approach the receptionist. "Uh, hello…" Yasuko takes a peek at her name tag. "Miss Mayekawa," she addressed. "I'm Yasuko Yukihana of the You-Show Duel School, and I'm here for the exhibition match."

Miss Mayekawa looks up from her computer to Yasuko. "Oh, and you're just right on time," she said as the woman gets up from the seat. "Right this way." Miss Mayekawa guides the two duelists through the clean white hallways of the duel school.

Soon after, they came across two metal doors. "Your opponent's name is Jeremy Law, and he is currently working in here, please don't mind if things may seem distracting." Her caution makes the girl raised an eyebrow. Before Yasuko could ask, Miss Mayekawa opens the metal doors.

The first thing that Yasuko and Yuya heard is the sound of boys and girls making "Hut" noise from all over the complex. Boys and girls from different age groups are all being pushed around through rigorous training such as push-ups, pull-ups, sprints, long-distance runs, and even weight lifts.

It was lively in the duels school. They look like they are ready to enlist. Some of them are also training on deck draws like the ones from the Leo Institute. There was a small boxing arena where two boys wearing boxing gloves duke it out.

Unlike the Leo Institute's training, the duel school is also training these young people about discipline and even some parts of the standard military procedures. The sight of the student's training makes Yasuko and Yuya give a nervous sweat drop behind their heads.

"I feel like I just got drafted," Yasuko commented.

Yuya gives her a sheepish smile in agreement. "Uh, I could say the same."

The two duelists walk through the vast area of where the students are working out. While doing so draws them unwanted attention from them. Some of the girls were looking at Yasuko. The boys were staring at Yuya.

It's no surprise for Yuya to be getting the stares because he was famous in live television for his Pendulum Summon. At least she was glad that her Pendulum cards are still in the box. The stares come with the whispers among the crowd, talking about the duelists entering their school. He was mostly talking about Yuya as he has an uneasy expression.

"Uh, is it me, or is everyone staring at us?" Yuya asked.

The girl could guess that they were probably staring at Yuya. "Probably something in their sight," Yasuko replied.

The two duelists soon came to the view of the stadium. Yasuko notices that one person was talking to a lightly tanned older man who is in his late forties with a stubby beard wearing a green beret.

"Who's he? The Sergeant?" Yasuko wondered.

The two duelists approach out in the opening and into the stadium. As they get closer, the sergeant seems to them from his peripherals. He turns around and makes a salute to her.

"Greetings, I am Commander Deaton Dekun, and I am the commanding officer of this school here," he introduced himself to the two duelists.

Yasuko is confused about why he would be called by his rank, considering that he isn't in the military. "Uh… Yasuko Yukihana," she addressed. "And I am here for the exhibition match."

Deaton nodded. "Why, of course, the match is about to begin at exactly 1545 hrs," he informed.

Yuya is more confused about why the sergeant would be telling the time in hundreds. "Huh?"

Yasuko turns to him. "In military standards, everyone refers to the 24-hour clock," she enlightened before turning back to the sergeant. "Anyways, who is my opponent, Mr. Dekun?"

Deaton half-turns his body to the boy standing beside him. "This here is Jeremy Lawns, and he's one of our best candidates for this match."

Yasuko and Yuya both turn to the boy that is in front of them. For someone who is the best in the school, her opponent doesn't seem to be significant, in her opinion. He is a boy, but short as Sora. His light green hair swept over to his left side with bangs over his silver eyes wearing a small camouflaged military uniform with a green beret on his head. She cannot tell if this boy is in the Youth or in Junior Youth. She did read that her opponent is supposed to be in the Junior Youth class, but he looks a lot like Youth,

"So, you must be Yasuko Yukihana, am I right?" Jeremy questioned.

Yasuko nodded. "I am," she replied.

"I am Jeremy Lawns of the Strategic Officer Duel School, and I am here to earn my place in the Arc League Championship," he said. "Are you sure you have what it takes to beat me?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the boy. "Clearly, you don't seem to know what I am capable of if you're underestimating me, and that can be fatal," she disputed. "Enough talk, let's just duel."

Jeremy nods his head in agreement. "I agreed."

Yuya and Yasuko turn around to place her bookbag down at the stands while the audiences gather around for the duel. The girl takes out her duel disk.

A sound of multiple calls came to their direction. "Yuya! Yasuko!" The duelists turn up and find the three little You-Show kids coming over to them.

Allie gives a hug to Yasuko as usual. "Hi there," she greeted. "How are you?"

"Like I have the flu after getting exposed to the weird fads that this city has to offer," Yasuko replied, giving the red-haired girl a pat on her little head. She looks down at all three of the kids. "Why are you here?" she asked. "Don't you have to get ready for the Arc League Championship or something?"

Tate nodded. "We are, but we also want to cheer you on, Yasuko!" he beamed. "We can't be sure enough if you are going to make it before the deadline."

"The Arc League Championship is in four days, and everyone in the You-Show is coming to the tournament except you," Frederick reminded. "So, we have to come and watch you on."

Allie looks up and makes a huge smile. "You are the only You-Show girl who hasn't qualified for the Arc League, so we want to wish you luck," she said.

Yasuko blinks once before she lightly pushes Allie away from her. "I find your enthusiasm and determination to be touching, but you, little ones, didn't have to worry about me losing." She attaches her green duel disk to her left wrist and steals a sharp look at Jeremy at the stadium. "I won't lose."

And with that, Yasuko makes her way around the You-Show to get to her opponent. As she was about to enter, Yuya calls to her. "Uh, Yasuko!"

The girl half-turns her face toward him. "What?"

The boy briefly makes a grin with anticipation. "Go get 'em." It wasn't just him that is giving her wishes. Almost everyone was smiling at her to get herself into the tournament.

Yasuko nods her head once. "I will." She turns back and walks across the stadium to face her opponent. "So, shall we begin?" she asked, activating her duel disk to emit her blue blade.

Jeremy Lawns brings up his orange duel disk and glows a red disk. "Lets."

The spotlight shines brightly around following by a hail of trumpet sounds that echoes in the building. The audiences are very excited to watch who will win their victory. "Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and girls! Thank you for coming to this day's exhibition match at the Strategic Officer Duel School!" The audience gives round of applause for the announcer, who is a woman wearing a grey officer uniform. "My name is Mila, and I'll be your host for this matchup! Today, for match up, we will determine who will earn the victory to get themselves to the Arc League Championship! For today's' contestants, please give your warm welcome to the new girl on the left who is the student of the You-Show Duel School! Yasuko Yukihana!"

The girl is seriously focusing on her opponent and not the hundreds of people around her. The screaming and the cheers are different than Fūma Clan's audiences. At least there were respectable enough to be quiet.

" _Calm down, Yasuko, just calm down,"_ she repeats herself mentally to keep her head straight. " _Remember, just focus on your opponent. Don't mind anyone else."_ Her eyes hardened slightly.

"And on the right, here is the Strategic Officer Duel School's top duelist! The King of Strategies! The Brains of Dueling! Jeremy Lawns!" Soon after, everyone starts to give louder applause for the short boy. He didn't seem to mind about anyone around him; he was fixing his gaze at Yasuko.

And now, please rise and let us welcome this school's headmaster and commander of the Strategic Officer Brigade! Deaton Dekun!" Mila raises her hand to the superior officer in charge of the school.

The spotlights shine upon him. His stone-cold eyes give off a severe demeanor at the duelists and audiences alike. "Greetings, I am the commander in chief of these here fine cadets! Here, the Strategic Officer Duel School is a preparatory school that is designed to teach the cadets how to be disciplined not in just life, but in dueling! We train our students on how to cooperate, how to think, and how to operate like real soldiers in dueling! But like all battlefields, this school also trains our students on how to create opportunities and strategies to achieve their objectives! That is the sole purpose of the Strategic Officer Duel School!" He points his finger out front. "Now, let us begin the match! I activate the Action Field Spell! No Man's Land!"

The Arc System automatically activates to turn the big stadium into the Action Field Spell; **No Man's Land**. Yasuko thought that the field would depict something from the Great War with a vast massive wasteland with rifles and helmets, but instead, it changes into something different. The arena shifts from just a giant glass-ground arena with a machine underneath into a very massive crater at the center of what used to be a city surrounded with largely abandoned skyscrapers. A supposedly post-apocalyptic city that was struck by something massive from the sky.

"Huh?" Yasuko uttered. "it looks almost like something hit this place."

"You should be mindful of who and where your duel is, Yasuko," Jeremy called. "After all, the victor is determined by not how well you play your cards, but by how well you strategized in it."

The girl frowns at the boy. "Oh, come on, like I didn't know how I can strategize," Yasuko rebuked. "Let's get this over with. I'm tired."

The duelists get ready and begin the chant alongside one another.

"Two Duelist locked in an epic battle!" Yasuko chanted.

"Kicking the earth and dancing in the air!" Jeremy calls it in.

"Fighting alongside with their monsters!" Yasuko added.

"Witness, the greatest evolution of dueling!" They chorused together as one. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Jeremy Lawns (LP 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!**_ " The Action Cards in the bubble disperses, spreading across the field to signify the start of the duel. Yasuko had to adjust her uniform sleeves to make room for her to draw cards. She studies him like he was Declan. Jeremy seems quiet and focused; an opponent that knows what he is doing remains a serious threat to her.

 **Turn 1: Jeremy (5x cards)**

Jeremy speaks up to Yasuko from on top of the crater. "I'll go first!" With one quick swipe, Jeremy takes a card from his hand, and Normal Summons **Machina Soldier (ATK 1600/DEF 1500)**. "I summon Machina Soldier," said Jeremy.

Beside Jeremy comes a green mechanical soldier with a giant sharp knife to its right hand. "Next, I activate Machina Soldier's special effect!" he declared. "When this card is Normal Summoned, and I don't control any other monsters, I'm allowed to Special Summon one "Machina" monster from my hand, like this Machina Sniper."

Taking out one card, Jeremy was able to Special Summon **Machina Sniper (ATK 1800/DEF 800)**. On his field comes a khaki mechanical sniper with a weapon cannon attached to its right shoulder. "Next, I'm going to activate this Spell! Machina Armored Unit!" Jeremy starts his move with his Continuous Spell Card, **Machina Armored Unit,** from his hand. "It lets me Special Summon one Machine-type monster from my hand whose attribute is the same and has less ATK points than the monster that was destroyed in battle."

Jeremy takes two more cards from his hand. "I set two cards face-down and end my turn," he concludes his turn as he Sets two cards on his field face-down.

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko is sure enough that the boy isn't so stubborn or thinking highly of himself. Soon, it all became clear to her that the boy is going to be observing her every move. Like a platoon commander, a good soldier always needs to know his enemies before tackling them into defeat. She is going to have to be extra careful with this opponent.

"It's my turn now!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. She looks down at her hand. Her cards are consisting of **Darkblaze Dragon** , **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand** , **Decoy Dragon** , her Trap Card, **Torrential Tribute** , and her second Trap Card, **Unbreakable Spirit**. The card that she drew was a Spell Card: **Trade-In**.

"From my hand, I summon Decoy Dragon!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Decoy Dragon (ATK 300/DEF 200)**. On the field comes a baby turquoise dragon.

"Next, I activate the Spell, Trade-In." Yasuko plays the **Trade-In** Spell Card. "Discards one Level 8 Dragon monster from my hand to draw two cards." Yasuko discards her **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand** to draw two cards. "Next, I activate the Spell, Foolish Burial!" Yasuko activates the **Foolish Burial** Spell Card. "This card lets me send one card from my deck to the graveyard." She chooses to send **Pandemic Dragon** "Next, I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Yasuko Sets two cards.

 **Turn 3: Jeremy (0x card)**

Allie sees how adorable her monster is compared to the other dragons that Yasuko has. "Ahh, how cute!" she squealed.

"But still, 300 ATK points?" Frederick inquired.

"That won't stand a chance against either of Jeremy's monsters," Tate pointed out.

Yuya is also curious about how Yasuko plays. Usually, she would be making aggressive moves against her opponent, but she is taking her duel very cautious this time. "Still, what is Yasuko going to do next?" he inquired.

Jeremy was eyeing on the baby dragon and two face-down cards. He soon realizes that she is watching him just as he is watching her. "So that's it then?" he asked.

Yasuko looks up at Jeremy, who was at the higher levels of the crater than her. "I have my reasons," she answered.

His eyes narrow down at the face-down cards that were on her field. "It's my turn now! I draw!" Jeremy draws a card from his deck. "I play the Spell; Iron Draw!" Jeremy plays the Spell Card; **Iron Draw**. "If I have exactly two Machine monsters on my field, I get to draw two cards!" Jeremy draws two cards from his deck.

"Battle!" he declared. "Machina Soldier, attack Decoy Dragon!" The green mechanical soldier raises its giant knife arm and jumps down to slice the baby dragon.

However, Yasuko makes a counterattack to stop it. "I activate my Decoy Dragon's special effect! When this card is targeted for an attack, I can target one Level 7 or higher Dragon monster in my graveyard, and Special Summon it!" Yasuko throws her right hand out to let a portal open on the ground to Special Summon **Pandemic Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 1000)**. "And because Decoy Dragon is attacked, its attack target is changed to Pandemic Dragon!"

The green mechanical soldier moves away from the baby turquoise dragon and diverts to attacking the biohazard dragon. It retaliates by fires an orange beam over to blast the mechanical soldier away, blowing some life points away from Jeremy.

 **(Jeremy: LP 4000** → **3100)**

Jeremy is thinking of many possibilities regarding her motives. He comes to conclude that the way she summoned her dragon when it wasn't her turn means that she specializes in summon dragons from the graveyard.

"I…end my turn," he resolved.

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (3x cards)**

Yasuko is staring at the layout of his field. Jeremy would just cut into the chase and beat her down like any other opponent, but instead, Jeremy was cautious, calculating the possibilities of her abilities. _"This guy…he's like a commanding officer of a unit, working on what the enemy has and nailing it before they had a chance to respond,"_ she thought to herself.

Yasuko then hops down and slide across the dirt floor to get to a slanted collapsed building and find Action Cards lying around. "It's my turn!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. "I draw!"

She looks at it, and it's a monster. "From my hand, I summon Spear Dragon!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Spear Dragon** **(ATK 1900/DEF 0)** in Attack Position. Beside her, a portal opens up, and a blue dragon with a very wide pointy mouth and small horns over its head appears on the field.

"Let's battle!" Yasuko declared. "Spear Dragon, attack Machina Soldier!"

Jeremy scrutinized his eyes to the running girl. "I'm afraid you won't," he said. "Because with Machina Sniper on the field, you can't attack any other "Machina" monsters on my field."

Yasuko grates her lower jaws with anger. "In that case…" Yasuko points to the mechanical sniper. "I'll just have to attack Machina Sniper with my Spear Dragon!" The blue horned dragon flaps its wings up to take a shot of its green laser beam straight for the mechanical sniper. The green beam destroys the mechanical sniper and deals damage to Jeremy.

 **(Jeremy: LP 3100** → **3000)**

"Good, now I can activate Machina Armored Unit's special effect!" His spell card glows as Jeremy continues with his effect. "When a Machine-type monster was destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon one Machine monster from my Deck that is the same Attribute and less ATK points than the monster that was in the graveyard!" His deck ejects one card and Special Summons **Machina Defender (ATK 1200/DEF 1800)** in Defense Position. "I shall bring out my Machina Defender!" On his side of the field is a mobile legged tank with two sets of missile launchers on its shoulder.

"I activate my Trap!" Jeremy plays his face-down Trap Card, **Time Machine**. "Time Machine! This trap card lets me Special Summon one Machine-type monster that was destroyed by battle!" The trap card brings out a strange time capsule machine, and **Machina Sniper** was resurrected after the doors opened as it hops out to stand beside the commander.

Yasuko's eyes harden. There was something fishy about her opponent. Unlike her opponents, who always go for Action Cards, he is just like Gongenzaka. He doesn't seem to be dependent on the Action Cards to use them. Yasuko thought of using that to her advantage.

"Pandemic Dragon, attack Machina Sniper!" The biohazard dragon fires an orange laser beam to blast the monster, dealing more damage to Jeremy.

 **(Jeremy: LP 3000** → **2300)**

"What gives?" Yasuko asked. "You're letting me attack your monster and deal you damage?"

She expects Jeremy to not respond to her question, but surprisingly, he does. "I don't need Action Cards to beat you, Mrs. Yukihana," he stated. "Too many people are depending on it."

For some reason, Yasuko agrees with him. "Yeah, I can see that," she approved. "But that was just out of curiosity, though."

Jeremy blinks once before he said, "Perhaps, you are thinking…why I won't be using Action Cards like the rest of everyone, or why am I just standing, not moving." He closes his eyes. "That's because, in every duel, I always observe the layout of my opponent's battlefield. Their tactics. Their strategy. Everything is depending on what kind of moves they make next because if you make one wrong move, then you're costing yourself a whole lot of life points."

Yasuko raises an eyebrow. "That's some brains there," she commented. "But in any case, Spear Dragon switches to Defense Position after it attacks." The blue horned dragon turns its wings over to shield itself in Defense Position. "I end my turn."

 **Turn 5** : **Jeremy (2x cards)**

The You-Show students are growing more concern with the duel. At first, it would seem that Yasuko is going to have trouble beating her opponent.

"Do you think Yasuko is going to be alright?" Allie asked.

Tate looks at the field setup. "So far, Jeremy's got a perfect setup if you ask me," he speculated. "But as long as Spear Dragon is in Defense Position, then she should be fine."

Tate's reassurances didn't reach into the students as Jeremy takes his turn. "My turn!" he declared. "I draw!" He draws a card from his deck. He knows that the face-up trap card would negate his attacks, and that will lead Yasuko to discard her cards. He is planning on stopping her from discarding her cards by taking his time to analyze her setup or simply destroy it.

"I give you credit, Yasuko," Jeremy admitted. "You seem to be very watchful of me."

"My number one rule of Dueling is that I never underestimate my opponents," said Yasuko. "Surely that applies to the aspect of the battlefield."

Jeremy nodded. "Of course," he said. "Most soldiers never realize what their enemies are capable of if they don't know who or what they're dealing with."

"And that can prove to be fatal," Yasuko added.

"Yep," Jeremy replied, taking out one card from his hand to Normal Summon **Commander Covington** **(ATK 1000/DEF 600)**. On his field comes a slimmer mechanical red soldier that looks a lot more humanoid. "I summon Commander Covington!" he declared.

"Next, I activate the Spell Card, Iron Call!" Jeremy plays a Spell Card: **Iron Call**. "If I control a Machine monster, I can Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Machine monster from my graveyard, but it is destroyed in the End Phase!" Jeremy uses the Spell Card to bring back **Machina Sniper** on the field.

"And now I activate Commander Covington's special effect!" he declared. "I can send one "Machina Sniper," "Machina Defender," and "Machina Soldier" that I control to the graveyard to Special Summon Machina Force from my hand or Deck!" With that, the three mechanical soldiers unite and break down into pieces of particles before reassembling together to form something massive.

"Okay, so what?" Yasuko asked. "Am I supposed to be afraid?"

Jeremy's eyes seem to glint once to her question. "Oh, maybe you should be," he affirmed. "And you're gonna find out why." His deck takes out the card that he needs and places it on his disk to Special Summon **Machina Force (ATK 4600/DEF 4100)**. "I Special Summon Machina Force!" he declared.

The pieces then transform into something big. Behind Jeremy is a monster made up of various parts from the three machines that Jeremy had sent. It has the defender's rocket shoulder launchers, the head of the mechanical soldier, and the upper body of the sniper. It is like the machines have combined into one.

The mechanical giant towers over Yasuko as its shadows block out the sun. Her eyes start to grow wider as the thing looms with its plasma rifle. "Oh crap," she responded. It wasn't just her that is shocked. Almost everyone at the You-Show is not the only shock but is astonished by how powerful it is.

Yuya was gripping on the stands in front of him when he stares the monster. "Whoa!" Yuya gasped. "Would you look at that!"

"4600 ATK points?!" Tate gasped too. "That's insane!"

"I've never seen a monster with that many ATK points!" Allie exclaimed in a fright.

"How is Yasuko going to beat that!" Frederick panicked.

Yuya is getting very worried about Yasuko. None of her monsters stand a chance against the big mechanical giant. "What are you gonna do, Yasuko?" he inquired.

The spectators watching the duel are all dumbfounded of how Jeremy was able to Special Summon a very powerful card in his possession. The boy now has a powerful monster on his field.

Jeremy narrows his eyes down at his opponent. "Battle!" Jeremy declared. "Commander Covington, attack Spear Dragon!" The red mechanical humanoid brings up his hand, and it switches to a blade before it moves down to slice the blue horned dragon. The blue snout dragon explodes.

"To attack with Machina Force, I must pay 1000 life points!" He points to her dragon. "Attack Decoy Dragon!"

 **(Jeremy: LP 2300** → **1300)**

The mechanical giant brings up its plasma rifle and takes aim at the baby dragon. With one pull of the trigger, the mechanical giant unleashed a potent laser beam straight for the monster.

"Yasuko, look out!" Yuya gasped as well as everyone else from the You-Show.

"I activate Decoy Dragon's special effect!" Yasuko called. "When this card is being targeted for an attack, I can Special Summon 1 Level 7 or higher Dragon-type monster from my graveyard to the field!" She raises her hand. "And I choose to bring back Pandemic Dragon!"

"You will not do such a thing; I activate my Trap Card!" Jeremy plays his last face-down Trap Card, Breakthrough Skill. "This card let me target one of your Effect monsters, and its effects are negated until the end of this turn!" The portal that appears in front of Yasuko then disappears after her defense was negated, rendering her vulnerable to a devastating attack.

"Oh, no!" Everyone at the You-Show gasped.

Yasuko is sure enough that her opponent is trying to block any of her attempts to destroy or remove his strongest monster on the field. The You-Show people are disbelief that all the efforts that Yasuko did always get countered by her opponent.

"Oh, no!" Everyone at the You-Show gasped.

Yasuko is sure enough that her opponent is trying to block any of her attempts to destroy or remove his strongest monster on the field. The You-Show people are disbelief that all the efforts that Yasuko did always get countered by her opponent.

"If she takes a hit with Machina Force—" Frederick panicked.

"It'll be all over!" Tate finished.

"Yasuko!" Allie cried.

Just before the pink beam could score a direct hit on the baby dragon, Yasuko slides down on the slanted office building.

"I activate the Trap; Unbreakable Spirit!" Yasuko flips up her face-down Trap Card, **Unbreakable Spirit**. The trap card glows along with the dragon decoy to boost its points to make Yasuko withstand the attack.

 **(Decoy Dragon: ATK 300** → **1300)**

As soon as the baby dragon comes close to the laser—

 _KA-BOOOOOM!_

The explosion creates a powerful shockwave that rocks nearly every building in the arena, including the slanted one where Yasuko is currently in. She can feel the unstable building leaning toward the left into the crater. Everything was trembling as if it was being hit by a massive earthquake. She hurries around the doors to find a window. After she spots one, Yasuko charges directly through and crashes into it. She then starts to slide down on the windows as the building collapses on its own, leaning closer to the ground.

The windows around her break after one another until she falls into a hole on one of the window shafts. Even after dropping in, she doesn't stop sliding as debris around her follows around her. She can see the window shaft in front of her approaching fast. Before she can even make it out, Yasuko realizes too late that the building was leaning too far to the crater. She can only hope and brace herself for what's to come.

The You-Show students were all shocked that a couple of the buildings were collapsing due to the shockwave caused by Jeremy's attack. What's getting them more worried is that the one Yasuko is in has to be the one leaning forward until one of the upper halve collapses horizontally, ripping itself apart until there was nothing but the lower half remaining. The top halves start to drag itself down until the entire building crashes to the center of the crater.

Yuya's eyes are wide, feeling terrified that Yasuko might still be in there. Allie holds her hands to cover her mouth in horror. Tate and Frederick are holding onto the bars of the stadium tightly. They saw the entire building coming down on the girl, and they can't be sure if she is alright.

"Yasuko!" Yuya screamed so loud that his voice echoes on the giant crater.

Dust and debris cover the entire arena, leaving only Jeremy with his only monsters in the opening. The boy's green hair flaps around him with nothing in his eyes, just the same expressionless face. He waits to see if he has claimed victory over the girl.

As soon as the dust fades, the look on his face turns to surprise when he spots a body hanging on from metal rebar on the lower half of the building.

"Look!" Tate called, pointing his finger at the body that was hanging on from the lower halve. The You-Show gets and closer look and saw to it that it was Yasuko holding onto the rebar in the lower half with the cards in her mouth.

Yuya can finally feel easy after seeing Yasuko. "Oh god," Yuya relieved. "She's okay…"

"Thank goodness," Allie breathed, feeling so thankful that she is still okay even after going in such a dangerous situation. "That was scary."

"But still…" Fredrick worried.

"She took a major hit on her life points," Tate concluded.

The boy was correct about Yasuko's current status. Despite her well-bring, Yasuko risked almost everything to save herself with barely a few life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **700)**

Jeremy was surprised that the girl managed to survive his attacks. "How'd you survive that?" he asked.

Yasuko grunts as she pulls herself up before standing up while holding the rebar for support. "The Trap; Unbreakable Spirit," she stated. "If I have a single monster on the field, this card gives Decoy Dragon the ATK points of one monster on your side of the field with the lowest, and I was taking Commander Covington's ATK points to add them to my Decoy Dragon."

Frederick was slumping back against his seat, so relieved that she manages to hold on. "It was all because of the face-down that saved her life," he said.

Tate is serious about the duel. "But even if she managed to survive that assault, how is Yasuko going to last against Jeremy and his monsters." He focuses on Yasuko's field, which is empty. "The only way she can beat that thing is by using her Extra Deck or Pendulum," he established. "If Yasuko can use any of that, then she may have a chance."

Allie turned to the boy. "But all I've seen Yasuko doing is using her standard cards and not any of her Extra Deck monsters," she stated. "Why is that?"

Yuya has been wondering about the Yasuko's duels. Over the past two days, since she vowed to enter the Arc League, Yasuko hadn't been using her Extra Deck or Pendulum cards in any of her matches.

"But why?" Yuya wondered. He turns back to the girl who is doing her hardest to fend off against the strategist duelist. "She's not using Pendulum?"

After she got up, Yasuko carefully climbs up to a stable platform where she can be able to see her opponent and his monster from a distance. "What? That all you got?" Yasuko provoked.

"That all I got?" Jeremy repeated. "You better prepare for the worse to come, Yukihana."

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "Better be you than me," she responded.

Jeremy frowns at the girl in response, "I Set this card face-down and end my turn." Jeremy Sets a card.

 **Turn 6: Yasuko (3x cards)**

The next turn goes to Yasuko, and she is having a hard time concentrating on the duel. Every moves Jeremy makes always counters her monsters. If she wants to overpower the mechanized giant, then she needs to draw something that will outsmart his monster. " _Alright, Yasuko, this is it,"_ she thought. " _I need something to go against this guy…If I don't, I'll never settle the score with Melania Herman_."

Slowly, she places a finger on her deck. "It's my turn," said Yasuko. "I…Draw!" With one swipe, Yasuko draws a card that leaves a bright trail at the end. She takes a look at it, and it was a Spell Card.

"I activate the Spell Card! Return of the Dragon Lords!" Yasuko plays the Spell Card; **Return of the Dragon Lords**. "This card lets me bring back a Level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my graveyard!"

Jeremy gives a small scoff. "Like that can help you," he ridiculed. "I've been thinking of the cards that were in your graveyard." He then hops down on a platform to get a closer look at the girl. "I know what you're trying to pull; you were hoping to bring back either a strong high powered monster that is currently in your graveyard, or Decoy Dragon in Defense Position so that you can use its effects again and that will let you Special Summon one of your level 7 or higher Dragon-type monsters in your graveyard," he speculated. "But I'm afraid that's not gonna work."

Yasuko continues to stare up to him as Jeremy continued, "I've already thought of your deck and your playstyle. You are very aggressive, I could say that you intend to take out my monster by bringing back your monster that was in the graveyard to get rid of my Machina Force," he hypothesized. "But the fact is, I've already known what your deck does from the moment you've special summoned Pandemic Dragon."

Yuya is surprised that Yasuko's opponent is even this smart enough to predict what her move was. "So then, he knows Yasuko is going to summon a monster that will destroy his Machina Force?" he wondered.

Despite his curiosity, the three kids didn't believe in his claim.

"What is he talking about?" Tate accused. "This guy knows nothing about what Yasuko can!"

"Beat him, Yasuko!" Allie cheered.

"You can do this!" Frederick exclaimed.

Yasuko stares at Jeremy with a blank expression. "I see…and you've figured it out what was I about to do next, haven't you?" she inquired. "A strategist always needs to know what their enemy's next move is and try to block out any attempts to reinforce their division; that's smart, Jeremy." She looks down at the ground. "But, the thing is…" As she looks back up, her eyes give a self-affirming demeanor. "Not every strategy goes according to plan."

Jeremy's eyes widen slightly. "What are you talking about?" he asked, confused.

"I'm talking about your strategy," Yasuko responded. "They're crap."

Jeremy's eyes then started to scowl at the girl. "What?"

"You're thinking only the basic logics," Yasuko explained. "You have to think outside the box, and that means thinking outside of what does best for me." Her eyes harden, and she raises her hand in the air. "I Special Summon my Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand!" By using the trap card, the portal in the air opens up, and she Special Summons Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand (ATK 2800/DEF 2800), the golden armored, black scaled dragon lord monster on the field.

Jeremy finds Yasuko to misunderstand what she was talking about. "You really think I didn't expect that to happen?" he asked.

"No, but this will!" Yasuko replied. "Divine Dragon Lord Felgand's special effect activates! When this monster is Special Summoned from the graveyard, this card can banish one monster on your side of the field, and this card gains 100 ATK points for every level it has!" She points at the mechanized giant. "And since your Machina Force is a level 10, I'm taking it!" The dragon lord monster spreads its wings over and shines bright beams up to the mechanized giant.

"I activate Breakthrough Skill from my graveyard!" Jeremy called.

"From the graveyard!?" Allie gasped.

"By banishing my Breakthrough Skill, this card can negate your monster's effect until the end of the turn!" He points at the dragon lord. "And I choose to negate your Felgrand's effect!" The beams of light shine by the dragon lord diminishes, canceling its effect.

"Oh, no!" Tate shrieked. "That means, Yasuko can't get rid of that monster!"

"Not yet!" Yuya suddenly called out. As everyone turns to the boy, Yuya keeps his eyes staring at Yasuko. "Yasuko isn't the one to be beaten that easily," he stated. "She knows what she is doing. I just know she's gonna win."

As proven by Yuya, Yasuko has already come up with a plan to counterattack the monster. "I was prepared for that, so I activate Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon's special effect from my hand!" she announced.

"What?" Jeremy inquired.

"By tributing a level 5 or higher monster on my field, I can Tribute Summon my Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon without two monsters!" Yasuko takes her card on her disk and sends it to the graveyard. "I tribute my Pandemic Dragon to Tribute Summon!" The biohazard dragon is replaced with a more advanced dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes, red scales, and gray wings from its spine. "Come, dragon of advanced evolution! Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Yasuko Tribute Summons **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon** **(ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**.

The You-Show students are getting excited about Yasuko's turn. She was able to bring out her strongest monster on the field.

"Alright, its Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Tate applauded.

"She's going to win!" Allie cheered.

"I think my goosebumps are getting the shivers!" Frederick quavered.

Yuya had a bright smile on his face. Even though it is not his Pendulum Dragon, it was still an Odd-Eyes, and to see it being used by Yasuko makes him feel very happy. "Come on, Odd-Eyes!" he praised as if it was his dragon.

"I activate Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon's special effect!" Yasuko announced. "When this card is Tribute Summoned, this card destroys a monster on your field, and you take damage equal to its ATK points!" The advance dragon flies up to be on equal footing with Jeremy and his monsters from the platform. The dragon blasts off with a red helix beam to destroy the mechanized giant.

"If Yasuko can manage to get the hit on Machina Force, it'll wipe out Jeremy's life points!" Tate extolled.

"Alright, Yasuko!" Allie celebrated.

"Shivers!" Frederick makes small body shake as his response.

Jeremy started to get annoyed with the girl over her so many failed attempts to finish him off for good. "You…" he growled slowly. "I activate Machina Force's special effect!" he declared. "I can send this face-up card to the graveyard to Special Summon Machina Sniper, Machina Soldier, and Machina Defender from my graveyard and to the field!"

The mechanized giant disperses into pieces before the beam can deal damage to the user. The pieces reassemble into three individual monsters; **Machina Sniper** , **Machina Soldier** , and **Machina Defender**.

Despite Yasuko's best attempt to destroy the monster, Jeremy was still able to defend himself against the effect coming from the girl, and now he's got five monsters on the field. It got the You-Show students to be disappointed.

"Oh man, and she was close," Frederick whined.

"I'm not done yet!" Yasuko suddenly called. "I activate the Trap! Torrential Tribute!" Yasuko declared as she plays the Trap Card, **Torrential Tribute**. "When a monster is Special Summoned, this card destroys all monsters on the field!"

"What?!" Tate gasped. "Is she crazy!?"

"It can't be!" Yuya protested. "She's doing something like that, and that means all her monsters are destroyed!"

Jeremy narrows his eyes in suspicions. "You're gonna destroy even your own monsters so that you can destroy mine? What kind of strategy is that?" he questioned. "You're insane. Even if you do that, all of your monsters will be destroyed."

What Jeremy didn't expect is for Yasuko to make a sudden turnabout. "And that's just what I am aiming for," she responded.

"What?" Jeremy questioned.

"I activate Return of the Dragon Lords from my graveyard!" Yasuko raises her hand in the air to show Jeremy something that will win her duel. "When my Dragon monsters are going to be destroyed, I can banish this spell card instead!" Yasuko declared.

For the first time, Yasuko can see the shock on Jeremy's face. "No way!" he exclaimed. It looks like Yasuko hit it right in the money. There is no way that Jeremy cannot comprehend what kind of strategy that she is implementing.

Two force fields form around Yasuko's dragon lord and her advance dragon while the trap card erupts into a massive explosion of blue flames that incinerates everything on the field. All of Jeremy's monsters are destroyed at the instant, leaving Yasuko with her advance dragon and dragon felgrand.

Jeremy seems to be let out a breath. He had nothing to protect himself against Yasuko's assault. "It…It can't be…"

"And you know what that means, Jeremy," said Yasuko. "Game over."

The outcome of the duel was decided. Everyone in the duel school and even the principal was astonished to see someone from a lower-class duel school to beat their best student. "Such a cunning plan that girl made…" Deaton uttered.

"Alright, Yasuko!" Yuya beamed.

"Go, Yasuko!" Tate cheered on.

"You got this!" Allie exclaimed, raising both hands in the air.

"I'm going to get the shivers now!" Frederick quivered.

"Battle!" Yasuko exclaimed. "Odd-Eyes! Attack directly!" The advance dragon obeys her commands and raises its head high before falling down to shoot a big crimson red helix blast. The beam is coming fast to Jeremy, and he cannot do anything because Yasuko has, in his words, outsmarted him. He accepts his fate as the blast destroys the top half of the crater.

 **(Jeremy: LP 1300** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The Action Field Spell Card disperses into the air, transforming it back to the original arena where it used to be. The duel was spectacular in the eyes of the audiences, and they all start cheering, giving loud noises, and clapping frequently.

"HORRAY, YASUKO!" The three kids celebrated in unison.

Yuya is feeling so much energy coming inside of him. He wanted to burst out and praised Yasuko for her third victory. He and the rest of the You-Show rush out of the benches, and they run toward the girl.

"You did it, Yasuko!" Tate smiled. "This is your third match!"

"Alright, Yasuko!" Allie called.

"You were amazing back there!" Frederick added.

"Nice one!" Yuya rejoiced. "Now, you only need to win three more, and you can be in the Arc League."

They all want to give her pats and hugs, but then, they saw what something off. As she approaches back to the stands, Yasuko looks like she was about to throw up. Her skin looks like it was pale, and her breathing seems heavier than usual.

The moment Yuya saw how Yasuko looked, the sooner he realized something off. Yasuko was almost like she was looking sick after her duel against Juliana. "Uh, Yasuko," he said. "Are you okay?"

Yasuko's dead eyes rove up to graze Yuya with a look of a zombie. "I'm fine," she said sternly. "I just…I just need some rest." She held her head, drowning out the noise that was coming to her direction.

"Uh…" Yuya can't be sure of how to respond. When he first saw her duel in the open public space, she looked sick to her stomach. " _What is up with her?"_ he thought to himself _._ "Do you need someone to take you?" he offered.

Yasuko looked up and nodded once. "Sure." She bends over to pick up her bag and starts to walk out of the arena.

"Hey, Yukihana." The girl gives a sigh of disappointment when Jeremy is calling to her again.

Yasuko turns her head around to take a small glance at Jeremy.

Jeremy's stony gaze never faltered as he said, "I have something to ask you."

"What?" Yasuko asked with irritation in her tone.

"What do you intend to do once you get into the Arc League?" Jeremy questioned.

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "I'm going to settle a score with someone," she answered.

Jeremy nodded. "I see…but what will happen if you do finish that score?"

"Honestly, I don't know," the girl replied. "I'll see what happens after." And with that, the girl turns around to start walking out of the arena. As she walks ahead, the three kids were confused about what Yasuko meant.

"To settle a score?" Tate inquired. "Who does she have to settle a score with?" he asked the others who are the person Yasuko is going to duel once she gets into the Arc League.

Yuya felt that it is best not to tell anyone of her reasoning as he already knows who the person is. He assumes that it's Mikisugi Dakoda, the guy who bullied Yasuko in her life. What's been bothering him the most is why does Yasuko look very sick after dueling in front of a crowd.

* * *

 **Hello, and thank you all for coming here today to read this post of the chapter. About three more chapters to go, and we'll be getting into the Arc Championship story arc. I have plans for three more duels before the upcoming next arc. Now, once we get to the next arc, I would like to address something in the future. By the time the second story begins, I will divide the chapter into something like "Arc Championship; Chapter" so that way, it will be more preferable to readers on which part of the story is on, and the book is setting only in the Dimensions as in the whole dimensions, not the story arcs themselves. Anyways, I hoped you enjoy reading this far. Just be patient. Three more chapters, and we'll be getting into the good stuff.**

 **I hoped you all are having an awesome day. We all get downs sometimes, but just remember that some days are worth being good. If you like what you have read, don't forget to leave a comment down on what you like and what it needs to improve, and I will get on working it.**


	27. Chapter 27: Childhood Flashes

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 27: Childhood Flashes; Yasuko Yukihana vs Ken Hashian_

* * *

Yasuko is doing her parkour training exercise at Demetria Gym. Even if she is dueling to six consecutive wins, she cannot forget about her parkour exercises.

The girl takes a deep breath and jumps to grab onto a pole, swinging forward before flopping herself to swing back. Landing at two feet in cat stance, she hops down and runs to start skipping over poles like a floor before jumping up and grabs on a ledge like a cat. Propping herself, she sprints fast before she front-flips off the ledge and lands on the mattress in front of her.

Sweat runs down from her forehead to her back. Approaching over the benches for a water break, Yasuko spots Yuya at the benches, the only person she didn't expect to come after her training.

The boy waves at her to get attention. "Yasuko," Yuya called.

Yasuko makes a hop to a wooden block before sliding down the pole and vaulting over a fence. "Hey there, didn't expect you to come by," Yasuko greeted. "What are you doing here?" she asked after taking a sip of her water bottle.

For some reason, Yuya has always been coming to see her most times her. Other than the three little kids from You-Show, Yuya is the only person who is always seeing her. She wonders why. Yasuko didn't forget about teaching him the Extra Deck methods, but she was so occupied with the exhibition matches that she won't have time to even teach him any of it.

"Well…" said Yuya. "You're my friend, so don't you think it's natural to see how you are doing?"

Yasuko raises an eyebrow. "I'm fine, thank you," she replied. "Don't you have to prepare for the Arc League or something? It's only two more days." She checks her duel disk and it was half an hour away for her fourth match. Yasuko packs up her things and walks out with Yuya following behind.

The two of them exit out of the gym and walks down the block. "I know," said Yuya. "But what I want is to see you win those matches so that we can make everyone smile, and that includes you, Yasuko."

The girl glances over to the boy with a raised eyebrow. "We?"

"I wanted to make everyone smile through my Dueling, but in our first duel… if you can smile, then my Dueling will be perfect," said Yuya. "And until you have your six wins, I will be rooting for you all the way."

Yasuko felt her mouth twitched once. As they came to the bus stop, Yasuko pulls over a blue hoodie and starts walking out with Yuya following behind her.

"Hey, Yasuko, can I ask you something?" Yuya questioned.

"What?" Yasuko turns to the boy.

"About your matches, how do you…uh…feel?" Yuya seems hesitant to ask Yasuko. Clearly, it's been noggin his head ever since he saw how Yasuko's hands were shaking during and after the first match with Juliana.

Yasuko raises one of her eyebrows. "What are you talking about?" she inquired. "I'm fine."

Yuya shakes his head. "No, I mean…how do you _feel_ about all of this? Dueling in front of the crowd."

Yasuko finds herself surprised that Yuya is asking her a different meaning to the question. She turns her head over to the other side of the road, thinking of the words she can say without blowing her cover. "It's…It's hard to explain," she said.

Yuya gives her a confused look. "Why?" he asked.

Yasuko sighed. "I…was not very bright in the dueling world," she said. "Rather, I was always prone to duel at lower-tier classes, nothing big like this Arc League Championship." She looks back to Yuya. "It's nerve-racking," she commented.

Yasuko finds it ironic that Yuya doesn't understand what her problem is with dueling in a large crowd, but she could let it slide and roll with it to make Yuya clueless.

* * *

Yasuko and Yuya are traveling by bus to the next duel school. Yasuko didn't change out of her gym clothes because she didn't bring in any spare ones.

The two duelists stop in front of a building where the duel school is located. The building is more cylinder-shaped and it had dragon statues around the window shafts. There was a sign above the entrance.

 _Ritual Masters Duel School_

Yasuko and Yuya exchange glance at each other with curiosity before they enter the building. Pushing both doors open, the interiors look similar to a theater entrance in the movies with red carpets and a Chinese temple entrance.

"Huh?" Yasuko and Yuya said altogether.

They proceed to walk inside through the Chinese temple. Upon entering, the students of the school are training together on different martial art techniques. Some of them were even learning how to shoot arrows.

If Yasuko thinks her last duel at a military duel school wasn't bizarre, she can see how students shoot arrows in the open with an ARC system active and using their monsters to ride on across the field. She and Yuya stop to watch a fifteen-year-old boy with brown hair and dark eyes riding on a Mirage Dragon. He had bows and arrows ready as the mirage beast flies around in the arena. He shoots one arrow after another. Each one of them hits dead center at the bullseye target hanging on the poles.

He comes across one last bullseye and he shoots his arrows across to hit one that is practically close to Yuya who flinches back in shock.

The audiences clap together with praise for the student to set the record. The girls in the duel school were practically screaming their lungs out in excitement. The mirage beast disappears as he hops down and walks back to the stands. Some people congratulated him on the record.

As he comes back to the stands, he spots Yasuko and Yuya standing there. He raises an eyebrow and puts down his bow and quiver down before approaching them.

"Ah, you must be Yuya Sakaki, the boy on tv who beat the Sledgehammer and Pendulum Summon," he greeted. "It's an honor to meet you." The boy extends his hand to Yuya.

Yuya was surprised at first, but he returns it with a strong grip and a shake. "Thank you…" Yuya hesitated, still reeling into how the entire city knows him and his duel against the former champion.

"Ken," Ken introduced. "Ken Hashian, and I'm the top duelist of Ritual Masters Duel School."

Yuya releases his grip. "It's um… an honor," he said.

Ken place a hand on his hip. "So, I take it you are here for the exhibition match today, right?" he assumed.

Yuya shakes his head. "Oh, no. I'm not here for that. I've got my 100 duels already. I'm here for see her match." Yuya gestures to Yasuko.

Ken turns to stare at the girl. In terms of the height differences between the three of them, Yasuko would have to be the shortest behind Yuya.

Ken gives a blissful smile. "So, you are my opponent for today then?" he asked.

"Yep," said Yasuko. "I'm Yasuko Yukihana, and I'm here for the exhibition match."

Ken smiles with excitement. "Yasuko huh?" He flicks her nose lightly, causing the girl to be irritated. "That's kind of a cute name."

Yasuko isn't the type of girl to be charmed by anyone, especially with her male opponents. "I'm not here to talk sweet; I'm here to duel," she responded.

Ken raise an eyebrow. "Oh, I can see how much fire you have," he stated. "I find that to be very good."

Yasuko raised an eyebrow. She can tell her opponent is handsome with his brown bangs flying upwards. She guesses that he's one of those types where the girls are very fond of his looks and possibly be making a move on her.

"Ken!" One of the girls called from behind. "Are you going to duel?"

The boy turns back to his audiences with a beautiful smile. "Why yes, in about ten minutes." The response was multiple loud shrieks from the girls.

Yasuko glances halfway to Yuya over her shoulder. "I swear, I'm gonna vomit," she whispered.

Yuya turns back to her. "Eh?" He isn't sure how to respond.

Yasuko turns back to the boy."Are we gonna duel or not?" she questioned.

Ken returns and smiles with gratefulness. "We will; just give me ten minutes, and I'll be ready for you, little sweet." The moment his fingertips touch Yasuko's chin, the girl swats it away with a hard slap in disgust.

"Don't touch me," Yasuko responded harshly. The girl breaks away from the boy and finds a bench where she can settle her gym bag.

Yuya briefly glances at the boy walking away with his female peers following behind him. He comes over to Yasuko who was setting up her duel disk.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Yuya asked. "I mean, with the duel."

After Yasuko zips her gym bag, she looks over to Yuya. "I'll be fine," she replied. "Why? Do I have not the stomach to take it all in?"

"Yasuko! Yuya!" The two turns to someone calling and it was the three little kids coming to them.

Allie gives a hug to Yasuko around her waist. "Hi, Yasuko," she greeted. "How are you?"

Yasuko pats Allie's head. "I'm well," she said. Turning up, she spots Sora coming by with a bag of mini chocolate candy.

"Hey there, Sora," said Yuya. "Where have you been?"

Sora pours some chocolate candy before eating them. "Oh, you know, just getting ready for the Arc League and stuff like that," he replied bluntly.

"Nice to see you still in touch," Yasuko responded. "Where's Zuzu?"

"I'm right here." Zuzu's voice sounds off behind Sora.

Yasuko and Zuzu stare at each other. "Hey there, still working with preparations?" Yasuko asked.

The dark pink-haired girl nodded. "Mmhmm," she answered. "I'm almost there now. My deck for the Arc League Championship is almost done."

Yasuko shrugs. "Well, that's good," she replied. She removes her blue hoodie sleeves.

"Are you ready to do this?" Zuzu asked.

"I'm always ready," Yasuko replied.

The girl opens the gate to let herself inside the arena. Yasuko walks in and looks at how many duelists and students are going to watch the duel.

The number of people watching is mostly going to focus on the star duelist of the show. She hopes that the attention to Ken would be easier for her to avoid getting attention from the crowd. _"Okay, let's be cool,"_ Yasuko thought to herself. " _Just stay cool, and you can make it."_ Yasuko breathes deeply before exhaling out.

"Yasuko!" The sound of Zuzu calls her attention. She turns her head and spots the You-Show students sitting at the bench.

Zuzu waves at her with a friendly smile. "Yasuko!" she called again. "We're all here for you!"

"Let's go, Yasuko!" The three kids cheered together.

"You can do it!" Yuya exclaimed.

Despite the cheering and the screams from the You-Show, it didn't make Yasuko feel any better. She was grimacing slightly.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen!" The female spectator with a Chinese bun hairstyle announced to the audience. "Boys and girls! Welcome to today's exhibition match of Ritual Masters Duel School!" the audience gives loud applause to the announcer. "For today's matchup, we would like to announce the two duelists of this match!"

The spotlights shine to the one person standing at the stage entrance of the arena. "Please welcome, in honor of this year's top duelist in this school! Ken Hashian!"

The people watching the duel, especially the female students, scream at the sight of the boy. He wears a Chinese wushu uniform. Though the pants are black, the upper shirt is a combination of white and black with a dragon symbol on the white side.

Ken waves at the audiences around him as he descends down the stairs. His smile gives the grace of a gentleman. As he reaches to the floor, the spotlight turns to Yasuko standing in the middle.

"And for his contender, the newcomer girl who just recently attended the You-Show Duel School, the institute created by the famous Yusho Sakaki! Yasuko Yukihana!"

All the noise from the audience is making Yasuko's head spin. The girl cringes to the sound of thousands of fans adoring the duelists.

"Alright, people! The moment you've all been waiting for!" The female spectator gestures her hand to the stage where Ken entered. "Please welcome to the headmaster of the school! Master Chang Wein!"

From the stage, a bald man in his thirties with a wushu uniform suddenly swings from a rope that appears out of nowhere and front-flips down before landing between two duelists in the arena.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Ritual Masters Duel School of Arts." Master Chang greets the girl before turning to the audience around the arena. "We, of the Ritual Masters Duel School, teach students how to be decisive in polishing their skills. By tracing back to the basics, the students will learn how to master their own at a pace that is more suited to them. Most will be ahead. Some will be behind. Given more practice and in time, they will become the master of their own set of skills." Master Chang gives a smile to the two duelists. "Now, as we bow our heads in respect of our opponents, let shall begin."

Yasuko raises an eyebrow of the customs. She bows as Ken does the same in response.

"Now, I wish the best of luck to each and every one of you, duelists, young and all." Chang raises a hand and snaps loudly to signify the activate of the Action Field Spell: **Gongmen City of the Dragon Emperor**. "I'm activating the Action Field Spell; Gongmen City of the Dragon Emperor."

The Arc system below activates, and the machine turns the flat duel arena into an ancient Chinese metropolis resting near the coast. Aside from the ocean streaming around the city, there was a twenty-floor story tower at the center of the city.

Upon seeing the resemblance of the surrounding buildings, Yasuko starts to see images of her childhood flowing in her eyes. It was taking her back to the time when she first met Chloe Saratoga, her foster mother.

The Action Field Card flashes herself back to when she was very young, maybe about seven-years-old, in the Wuyuan District, China. There weren't any significant things to see near Wangkou. There were only houses with a small river flowing in between in the canals. The empty fishermen boats from the harbor remind Yasuko of the small canoes that usually float at the river streaming around the small village of her so-called birthplace. The ancient buildings around her give a resemblance of the white houses with faded paintings. She can see some people walking in the street, but not many people because it is a village.

The older Yasuko turns to the waters next to her to see the younger Yasuko. Yasuko was a young girl back then. She didn't discover hairstyles yet. Unlike the low pigtail hairstyles that she has in the present, her past self has only short forest green hair, and it was jagged. If she can recall anything that Yasuko was wearing, it had to be a white oversized jacket that covers her mouth with turquoise pants and grey shoes.

Yasuko wonders how long she had been living in Wangkou. Maybe a few years. Give or take. It was all a mystery of why she was born in a village where the residents didn't know who her family is. None of them even know who "Yukihana" is. Nobody doesn't know anyone by the name "Yukihana", or who may be looking for her.

She was like a lost bird drifting in the winds searching for a tree to settle in. The image of her younger self was the figure of what she used to be. She can guess that she was practically scared enough to be holding her knees tightly as she gripped her turquoise pants. She didn't know where she got her clothes from or who gave it to her.

Despite being alone for most of her time, the people in Wangkou were generous enough to feed her, give her warm clothes, and give her some shelter during the worst storms or cold seasons. Even if the residents who lived in Wangkou were generous, Yasuko considered herself to be homeless. She had nowhere. There was no place to go.

Her mind is completely voided ing of a single memory of her past. The only thing that she does remember is the name: Yasuko Yukihana. It was the name that she remembered. She even wonders if that is her real name. After some time, Yasuko has come to accept that it has become her name a long time ago. She can remember herself, the younger Yasuko Yukihana, sitting on the ground near the river, watching the river stream by as if time passes quickly. That's when Chloe Saratoga came to her memory. The young woman with dark hair that goes only above her shoulder was a photographer, and she always had a camera on her hand and a backpack.

It was unexpected to see the woman setting her camera down on the ground and takes a seat beside her.

Yasuko wasn't sure of how she is feeling when the woman became her foster mother. She wants to be frightened because of how the woman is acting nicely, but then she wants to know why the woman was helping. It was all too curious. When she told Chloe of her name, the woman was intrigued and introduces herself as the woman who became some sort of a mother-figure.

"Alright, let's get this show in the roll!"

Yasuko was snapping back into reality after dazing off around her area. She was almost lost into her thoughts in flashbacking to her past that she nearly forgets that she is about to begin her duel.

Ken beamed as he activates his duel disk to let an orange blade.

In response, Yasuko turns her duel disk on and the blue blade glows right out of the box.

"Two duelists locked in an epic battle for survival!" Ken chanted.

"Together with their monsters', they kicked the ground and reach for the sky…" Yasuko chanted.

"But only one will reach the top!" Ken recited.

"Witness, the greatest evolution of dueling!" They chorused together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP: 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Ken Hashian (LP: 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!**_ _"_

The Action Cards in the bubble bursts open, spreading everywhere in the field to start the duel. With five cards in their hand, the duelists are set in motion.

Ken takes out a coin from his pocket. "Alright, this is how we do it," he said. "I flip this coin, and you tell me which side it will land on." He shows Yasuko the coin that he is holding. "One side has the dragon—" he flips the other side, "—and the other has a face, you ready?"

Yasuko shrugs it off. "That's fine by me," she responded. "Just make it quick."

"Alright then…" said Ken. "Here we go!" He flips the coin with a flick of his thumb. The small object spins rapidly up in the air before descending.

"Heads," Yasuko called.

Ken catches the coin and lands it on his backhand. He opens up, and to his surprise, she called it. "Oh, looks it's heads then." He gives a smile to the girl. "Okay, it looks like you're going first then."

 **Turn 1: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko takes out a card and makes her move. "I summon Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter (ATK 1700/DEF 1200)**. On her field is a hybrid dragon that is half black armored scales and half fire from the sun.

"And I activate this Continuous Spell, Backup Squad!" Yasuko activates her Continuous Spell Card: **Backup Squad**. "This card lets me draw a card for every 1000 points of damage I take; whether it's a card effect or battle damage!"

She takes out two more cards. "Next, I set two cards face-down and end my turn." Yasuko Sets two cards on the field. "And now, Dwarf Star's special effect activates! During the End Phase, if this monster was Normal Summoned this turn, I can add a level 7 Light or Dark monster from my deck and add it to my hand!" She takes out one card to add one monster: **Darkblaze Dragon**.

 **Turn 2: Ken (5x cards)**

"Guess this means, it's my turn then." Ken draws a card from his deck. "I draw!" He looks at the card and gives a satisfied smirk. "Alright then! I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands!" Ken Normal Summons **Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands (ATK 1400/DEF 1000)**. The monster that Ken summoned is a dark green ghost that is latterly made up of ten thousand hands and arms. "Now, Manju's special effect activates! When this card is Normal Summoned, I get to add one Ritual Monster or Spell card from my Deck and add it to my hand!" Ken chooses one to add the Ritual Spell: **Nekroz Mirror**. "I'll add one Nekroz Mirror to my hand!"

Once he added his card, Ken makes his second move by activating his monster's effect from hand. "I activate the Ritual Monster: Impcantation Chalislime, from my hand," said Ken. "By revealing this card from my hand, I can discard one card to Special Summon one "Impcantation" monster from my Deck in Defense Position." Ken reveals his first Ritual Monster: **Impcantation Chalislime** , and then discards one card to Special Summons an impcantation monster: **Impcantation Talismandra (ATK 0/DEF 0)** in Defense Position. The monster Ken summoned had to be the weakest of all; a short mandrake plant man with a talisman around its small stubby neck.

"Now, Talismandra's special effect activates," said Ken. "When this monster is Special Summoned from my Deck, I can add one Ritual monster from my deck to my hand!" Ken selects one monster and adds a Ritual Monster that he has selected: **Nekroz of Valkryus**.

"Now, I activate Penciplum's special effect from my hand," Ken added. "I can reveal one Ritual monster from my hand and Special Summon an Impcantation monster from my deck and Penciplum from my hand." Ken takes out one card to reveal **Impcantation Chalislime** and Special Summons **Impcantation Penciplum (ATK 0/DEF 0)** from his hand and **Impcantation Candoll (ATK 0/DEF 0)** from the deck **.** On Ken's side of the field is a monster that is a quill that has a face on the feather. "I Special Summon Candoll from my deck!" The second monster that Ken summoned appears to be two monsters in one figure with the candle having a sad face bu a fire demon-look in the flames.

"Now, I activate Candoll's special effect!" Ken added. "I can reveal one Ritual Spell from my hand and add another Ritual Spell from my deck to my hand!" Be revealing his first Ritual Spell Card: **Nekroz Mirror** , Ken was able to add a second Ritual Spell: **Nekroz Kaleidoscope**.

With four monsters on Ken's side of the field, Yasuko doesn't like where it was going. Her guts are telling her that the duel is about to get a whole lot serious. "This can't be good," she stated.

"You should probably know what to expect by now, Yukihana," said Ken. "I activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Kaleidoscope!" Ken activates the Ritual Spell Card: **Nekroz Kaleidoscope**. "This card lets me Ritual Summon one Ritual monster from my hand by tributing monsters that are equal to that monster!"

Yasuko never expects to face a Ritual Monster on her fourth match. She needs to prepare for anything that will come and hit her. "This can't be good," said Yasuko.

"I tribute the level 4 Candoll and Maniju to Ritual Summon!" Ken sends the candoll and the thousand hand manju to a kaleidoscope mirror that appeared in front of Ken. The two monsters fly behind into the mirror to form a new monster.

" _Behold, the man who wields the awesome power of Nekroz who swore his oath to the cause!_ _ **I Ritual Summon**_ _! Appear, Level 8! Nekroz of Valkryus!"_ Ken Ritual Summons **Nekroz of Valkryus (ATK 2900/DEF 1700)** in Attack Position. Ken's first Ritual Monster is a tanned man in knight body armor with a red sash around his wash and wearing a dark green cape holding a giant spear.

The audience was getting excited with Ken making his Ritual Summon, especially for the You-Show people.

"Whoa, Ken just summoned four monsters from the beginning, and then, summoned a Ritual Monster on his very first turn," said Tate. "This guy's good."

"Yeah, really good," Allie replied. "But I bet Yasuko's got something else in her sleeve. She's always the one with surprises."

"I just hope this doesn't end badly," Frederick spoke in a worried tone.

"Don't worry," said Zuzu. "Yasuko can pull through. I just know it."

"Yep," Yuya agreed.

Ken wasn't done with his move and continues onward. "Now, I activate Valkryus' special effect! I can tribute two monsters from my hand or face-up on the field to draw cards equal to the number of cards that I tributed." Ken throws his hand over to the two monsters that are on his field. "I tribute my Penciplum and Talismandra from my field—" the two monsters that are on Ken's field disperses into specks of dust, "— and my Charlislime from my hand to draw three cards!" He tributes his charlislime ritual monster from his hand as Ken draws three cards. By looking at Ken's face, Yasuko doesn't like how his mouth curves to an even more joyous smile.

"Now, we're getting somewhere." Ken pulls once card and activates the Spell Card: **Preparation of Rites**. "I activate the Spell, Preparation of Rites!" he called. "This card lets me add one Level 7 or lower Ritual monster from my deck and add it to my hand, then I can add one Ritual Spell card from my graveyard to my hand!"

Ken adds one Ritual monster and then adds back his first Ritual Spell from the graveyard to his hand. "Now, I activate my Nekroz Kaleidoscope once more!" Ken activates the first **Nekroz Kaleidoscope** Ritual Spell Card. "Did you know that Nekroz Kaleidoscope can also let me Ritual Summon using monsters from my hand?"

Yasuko's eyes narrow at Ken. "I suppose I do not," she responded. "Unless it's a type of effect."

"Exactly," Ken corrected. "But since it requires two monsters, I'm going have to use Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz from my hand." He takes out the card to show Yasuko the monster; **Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz**. "And when I Ritual Summon a "Nekroz" monster, Shurit's effect can be used as an entire material for one requirement."

Yasuko was taken by Ken's explanation. "You mean you can Ritual Summon using one monster?" she asked.

"That's right," said Ken. "I tribute my Shurit to Ritual Summon!" A small boy with heterochromia red and green eyes with red-dyed hair over his silver-white bangs appears on the field before flying into a kaleidoscope portal in front of Ken.

" _Knight of Gungnir, rise and be ready to fight for justice!_ _ **I Ritual Summon**_ _! Level 7! Nekroz of Gungnir!_ " Ken Ritual Summons **Nekroz of Gungnir (ATK 2500/DEF 1700)** in Attack Position. The second ritual monster, next to the valkryus nekroz, is a female warrior donned in a crystallized armor as her long red hair streaks out of her helmet and a pair of ice wings from her back holding a staff.

With two monsters on Ken's field, the You-Show duelists are looking more worried when they saw two of Ken's powerful monsters.

"Oh no," said Allie. "That can't be good."

"You can say that again," Tate replied. "There's no way Yasuko can deal with those monsters with just that dragon of hers alone."

Ken snaps his fingers to Yasuko. "Now, I activate Gungnir's special effect!" he exclaimed. "During either player's turn, I can discard one "Nekroz" card from my hand to the graveyard to target one card on the field and destroy it." He pulls out one card and sends his **Nekroz of Catastor** to the graveyard. "I discard Catastor to target your dwarf dragon and destroy it!"

The gungnir nekroz holds up her staff to shoot down a bolt of ice beam over to freeze the dwarf dragon and shatters it into pieces.

Yasuko didn't flinch from the effect, remaining strong to her opponent. Her eyes narrow like a hawk watching what her opponent does next.

"Now, battle!" Ken points a finger at her. "Gungnir and Valkryus, attack Yasuko directly!"

The valkryus and gungnir nekroz fly over with their weapons ready to strike against Yasuko.

"Oh no!" Allie gasped. "She's wide open!"

"If this lands a hit—" Tate began.

"It'll be all over!" Frederick finished.

The two ritual monsters come together to attack, but Yasuko makes a counterattack against them. "I activate my trap! Damage Diet!" Yasuko flips of her face-down Trap Card: **Damage Diet**. "Damage Diet halves all damage this turn!" The gungnir nekroz fires an ice beam while the and the valkryus nekroz throws his spear down to form a construct version of his weapon.

Yasuko reacts and backflips to avoid getting hit by the two strikes. Despite taking minimal physical damage, she still takes major battle damage to her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **1300)**

Yasuko removes some bangs from her eyes to focus back on her opponent. "Backup Squad's effect activates!" she exclaimed. "When I take damage, I draw for every 1000 points of damage." Since she took 2000, Yasuko draws two cards.

"Nice one," Ken commented. "I'll Set this card face-down and end my turn." Ken Sets a card.

 **Turn 3: Yasuko (4x cards)**

"It's my turn now," said Yasuko. She draws a card from her deck.

Taking out one card, Yasuko Normal Summons **Paladin of Felgrand (ATK 1700/DEF 300)**. "I summon Paladin of Felgrand!" On her field is a blond paladin warrior in shining armor with a purple cape holding a sword. "Paladin's special effect activates! When this card is summoned, I can equip a level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my deck!" She chooses one dragon and equips her paladin with **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand**. "I equip my paladin with Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand!"

From out of the ground, the dragon lord rises up as the paladin hops on top to be its rider.

"Next, I activate the Spell, Reload!" Yasuko plays the **Reload** Quick-Play Spell. "This lets me shuffle the cards back to my deck and draw the same amount." Yasuko inserts her entire hand back to her deck as the duel disk shuffles the cards. Once it was done, Yasuko draws back to three.

"I activate the Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lord!" Yasuko plays the Continuous Spell Card: **Ruins of the Divine Dragon Lords**. "If a monster is Special Summoned that is not from the graveyard while I control a level 7 or 8 Dragon monster, its effects are negated until the end of the turn," she explained. "And now, I activate Ruin's effect! Once per turn, I can send one face-up card that I control to the graveyard to Special Summon a Dragon Lord Token!" She throws her arm to the dragon lord. "I send my Dragon Lord Felgrand to the grave to Special Summon a Dragon Lord Token!" By sending her dragon lord, it disappears into thin air to be replaced with a **Dragon Lord Token (Dragon/LIGHT/Level 1/ATK 0/DEF 0)** , a dragon statue.

"Next, I active Paladin's special effect!" Yasuko announced. "I tribute this monster and the Dragon Lord Token to Special Summon a level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my graveyard!" She throws her hand in the air. "I tribute my Paladin and the Dragon Lord Token to Special Summon Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand from my graveyard!" The paladin and the dragon statue disappear from the field to let it be replaced with **Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand (ATK 2800/DEF 2800)**.

The dragon lord returns back to the field, bright and new. "Dragon Lord's special effect activates! When this card is Special Summoned from the graveyard, I can target one monster and banish it, and Felgrand gains ATK and DEF points equal to the Level or Rank of the monster that I banished."

Yasuko points at the valkryus nekroz. "I banish your Valkryus!" The dragon lord flaps its wings wide to let beams of light shine over to the valkryus from the field. "Now Dragon Lord Felgand gains 800 ATK and DEF points!"

The dragon lord roars with life as the monster gains more power after absorbing the dust around it.

 **(Divine Dragon Lord Felgrand: ATK 2800/DEF 2800** → **ATK 3600/DEF 3600)**

"Alright!" Tate cheered. "That dragon's more powerful than Gungnir!"

"Go, Yasuko!" Allie cheered.

"Let's battle!" Yasuko declared. "Dragon Lord Felgrand, attack Nekroz of Gungnir!"

The dragon lord opens its jaws wide to consume enough energy to power up its beam. Once it was charged, the dragon fires an orange laser beam down to obliterate the monster. The explosion destroys the monster, costing Ken some of his life points.

 **(Ken: LP 4000** → **2900)**

Despite taking damage, Ken still has a reaffirming smile. "That was magnificent back there, Yukihana," he congratulated.

Yasuko starts running to the other side of the fence. She walls-runs over a brick wall before climbing herself up on a rooftop with a grunt. After she gets up, Yasuko can see her opponent on the opposite side. "You're not mad?" she asked.

"Not really," Ken replied. "Here at the school, we have our honors, and the honor is to see who will become the next duelist to the Arc League."

Yasuko raises an eyebrow over their customs. "I'm…honored?" she said, confused. "I end my turn."

 **Turn 4: Ken (4x cards)**

"It's my turn now!" Ken declared. "I draw!" He draws a card from his deck. "And from my hand, I activate Impcantation Bookstone's effect from my hand!" he declared. "I can reveal one Ritual Spell to Special Summon one Impcantation monster from my deck and Bookstone from my hand!" He reveals his Ritual Spell Card: **Nekroz Mirror** to activate his monster's effect. He Special Summons **Impcantation Bookstone (ATK 0/DEF 0)** from his hand and his second **Impcantation Peniciplum** from his deck.

The first impcantation monster is a book that has a face with a smaller face on a medallion, and the second one is a quill with a face on it.

"Penciplum's special effect activates! When this card is Special Summoned from the deck, I can target one Ritual monster in my graveyard and add it to my hand!" The only Ritual monster that Ken could take is **Nekroz of Gungnir**.

"Next, I activate the Trap, Call of the Haunted!" Ken activates the Continuous Trap Card, **Call of the Haunted**. "It lets me Special Summon a monster from my graveyard in Attack Position." The monster that Ken resurrects back is **Shurit, Strategist of the Nekroz (ATK 300/DEF 1800)**. The strategist nekroz boy appears on the field.

"Now, I activate the Ritual Spell, Nekroz Mirror!" Ken activates his spell card. "I tribute Shurit from my field, and, Penciplum and Bookstone from my hand to Ritual Summon!" A mirror appears on the field with the bookstone, nekroz strategist, and the penciplum being merged into the device.

" _The goddess of rebirth shall be reincarnated into a being of pure and good!_ _ **I Ritual Summon**_ _! Appear, level 11! Nekroz of Sophia!"_ Ken Ritual Summons **Nekroz of Sophia (ATK 3600/DEF 3400)**. A tall beautiful woman who is barefooted but has a pink and orange dress with knight armor parts over her body and red horns sticking up from her head emerges from the mirror with a graceful smile.

"Nekroz of Sophia's special effect activates!" Ken announced. "When this monster is Ritual Summoned, it banishes all cards on the field and from the graveyard!"

Sophia brings up her hand together to form a bright yellow aura of energy in her palms. She chanted something in a foreign language before unleashing it all over the field, effectively banishing everything including Yasuko's and Ken's field.

"No way!" Tate gasped. "Ken just got rid of all of Yasuko's cards! Both field and grave!"

"How is Yasuko going to survive this?" Allie wondered.

Sora raises an eyebrow while eating a bag of gummies. "I doubt Yasuko has a plan to survive this," he objected.

Yasuko realizes that Sophia's special ability wiped her entire field clean of cards and started to run away.

"Run all you want, but this is the end!" Ken exclaimed. "Battle! Sophia, attack Yasuko directly!"

As Yasuko runs to an alleyway, another flashback occurs to her head. It was during her time at the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games. The first and last time that Yasuko entered a big dueling event is the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games. She understands that it is a special tournament event that is hosted in Tokyo every three years, but the rule of the preliminaries is complex. Unlike a standard matchup, the preliminaries have to do a Battle-Royal Mode with no Action Cards to use as it is the rules to weed out the players down to 32 before the main event; though, Yasuko didn't even know what Action Cards were at that time. She was always dueling in Masters. She was in the Junior Class which means she was about twelve-years-old when she first started.

The tournament took place in Tokyo Stadium with the Action Field Spell setting into a place called Domino Maze. Yasuko experienced how it was like being surrounded by a giant maze with towering sixty-foot stone walls that leads anyone from the top to the bottom, surface or underground, or into another seemingly endless paths in the maze. The walls had vines sticking all around the stone wall.

Yasuko can reminisce about how it all started in the Tokyo Regional frontier Games. All 64 participants from the Junior class standing at the center of the big clearing area, and they all ran inside the gaps of the massive maze. A free-for-all. Yasuko had to keep on running. She was running away from any confrontations. She didn't know how many wins she earned three years ago. For every point that Yasuko had earned is determined by the number of life points she has remaining after she won a duel divided by a 100.

There was a six-hour time limit. She hated how three duelists of her age suddenly appeared out of nowhere and surrounded the girl to a three-way duel. Where they come from, she did not know. The only that matters is she is completely surrounded and there was no one to back her up.

Until Melania Herman showed up in her hoodie jacket and brown pants. Now that she thought of Melania and her duel disk, it looked a lot like Yuya's magenta duel disk with a yellow blade. It was where Yasuko crossed paths with Melania, and she was always by her side for the duration of five and a half hours.

Thinking of the blonde girl is angering Yasuko from inside her blood vessels as she starts to sprint. Her memory of her time during the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games comes to an end when she starts crossing over a single road. Yasuko runs after it, knowing that her opponent will be following behind her. She pushes past through the big doors and runs inside of the garden surrounding the palace tower.

Sophia had already powered up her spell, and she brought her hand over to fire a dark blast that zigzags over and around the houses to hit Yasuko.

The girl hurries on over to take an Action Card that was hanging on from a rooftop. She wall-runs over and snatches the Action Card to activate it. "I activate the Action Spell, Choice Choice!" Yasuko activates the Action Spell Card: **Choice Choice.** "This card lets me choose to halve all damage this turn!"

Yasuko drops and rolls back up as she keeps on running. The magic blast was zipping through the air and coming close straight for Yasuko. She then turns sharply at the far corner and spots one more Action Card at a dried-up fountain, but there were obstacles in the way. Yasuko narrows her eyes to focus on the Action Card. She vaults over a crate before she slides herself underneath another crate. She jumps up and makes a webster flip as Yasuko continues onward to get the Action Card. She digs her foot on the stone fountain before jumping up to snag the Action Card on the fountain.

"Action Spell, Full Fairing!" Yasuko plays the Action Spell Card: **Full Fairing**. "This card halves all damage this turn!" The second Action Card manages to save another half of Yasuko's life points, but she was still vulnerable to the attack. The forest-green girl gets hit with a full blast of magic from Sophia, sending her flying over in the air. Yasuko lands herself on the ground while giving heavy grunt after taking the hit.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1300** → **400)**

Ken appears on the rooftop of one of the houses, watching Yasuko from afar. "I end my turn," he concluded. "I'm impressed. You've managed to survive even that attack. Now, I want to see what you've got."

 **Turn 5: Yasuko (2x cards)**

The You-Show people are on the edge of their seats because there are no cards that Yasuko has on her field or graveyard. There was no way that the girl can do to stand against Sophia and her overwhelming attack power.

"This cannot be good," said Tate. "Yasuko has no cards in the graveyard, and she has only two cards that are on the field.

Yasuko can feel her back giving off stringing sensations down to her spine. She holds her jaws as Yasuko gets back up. "My turn!" Yasuko looks at her hand setup. It was atrocious. All of her cards on the field are gone. The only cards that she has are **Assault Wyvern** and the Spell: **Stamping Destruction**.

Yasuko slips her hand over to her deck. "I draw!" Yasuko exclaimed, drawing a card. She looks up, and it was the one card that she hoped for.

"I activate the Spell, Pot of Extravagance!" Yasuko activates the **Pot of Extravagance** Spell Card. "This card banishes three or six cards that are from my Extra Deck to draw one card for every three!"

Ken was shocked by Yasuko who was willing to banish six cards from her Extra Deck. "You're going to banish six cards from your Extra Deck!?" he gasped. "What are you, crazy?"

"Crazy? Maybe," said Yasuko. "But I know my ways around through." She banishes six cards from her Extra Deck, and Yasuko draws two extra cards. The two cards that are the key to end the duel; the Quick-Play Spell: **Gravity Lash** and **The Melody of Awakening Dragon**.

"I summon Assault Wyvern!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**. Yasuko's monster is a blue wyvern with a bone chin and bright blue orbs glowing that appears on the field with its wings spread out wide. "Next, I activate the Spell, The Melody of Wakening Dragon!" Yasuko plays a Spell Card: **The Melody of Awakening Dragon**. "This spell makes me discard one card from my deck to add two dragon monsters with 3000 or more ATK points and 2500 or less DEF points to my hand!" She discards her spell card to add two types of dragon monsters: **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon** and **Chaos Dragon Levianeer**.

"Battle! Assault Wyvern, attack Sophia!" Yasuko's declaration flabbergasted everyone in the school including the You-Show people.

"She's going to attack?!" Zuzu gasped. "What is she thinking?"

"I don't think she's even thinking at all!" Tate added. "That dragon's ATK points are _way_ too low, and Sophia's going to demolish that wyvern to bits!"

"But if this attack succeeds, she'll lose!" Allie finished.

"Oh, I cannot watch!" Frederick whined, covering his eyes.

Yuya was holding himself from even saying a word to Yasuko. He can feel his heart racing underneath his chest. There was no way Yasuko would do something so reckless such as attacking a monster with higher ATK points.

"Are you serious?!" Ken exclaimed. "Are you trying to get yourself to lose in this attack?"

"I wouldn't be so stupid if I hadn't got a plan for this," said Yasuko. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Gravity Lash!" Taking out one card, Yasuko activates the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Gravity Lash**. "This card targets one monster on the field, and it loses ATK points equal to its DEF points!" She points at Sophia. "And since Sophia's got one hell of a defense, that's going to backfire her!" The spell card pops up and shoots a bolt of lightning over to zap Sophia, and the ATK points go down the drain.

 **(Nekroz of Sophia: ATK 3400** → **100)**

"No way!" Ken gasped.

The blue wyvern zips over and brings up its chin bone to slash through Sophia, effectively destroying her and half of Ken's life points.

 **(Ken: LP 2900** → **1200)**

Ken was pushed back by the shockwave coming his way. He braces himself while standing. He covers his eyes as the explosion wears off. The boy can see that his field is empty with only the blue wyvern flying above Yasuko.

"Assault Wyvern's special effect activates," said Yasuko. "When this card destroys a monster in battle, I can tribute this monster to Special Summon one Dragon monster from my hand." She takes out one card and Special Summons **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**. "I tribute Assault Wyvern to Special Summon Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" The blue wyvern glows bright enough to be enveloped by the light. The silhouette disperses before the particles reform into a single red dragon with grey scaled wings and heterochromia red and green eyes. The advance dragon swoops down to Yasuko before flying back up in the air.

The You-Show students are also getting excited after seeing Yasuko's top monster on the field. "It's Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Allie cheered.

"Now I see why she attacked," said Tate. "She needed Assault Wyvern's effect to get her to summon Odd-Eyes! That was a close call, but so cool at the same time!"

"I can feel that it is getting the shivers!" Frederick quavered in excitement.

Yuya can feel very excited about Yasuko getting herself to summon a powerful monster like her own Odd-Eyes. He looks up to Odd-Eyes with a smile on his face. "You're doing it, Yasuko!" he cheered on.

"You can do it!" Zuzu called.

The You-Show and the audiences are making the noise all they want to see the girl beat her opponent; however, it's giving Yasuko a headache now. It's getting harder to zone out the noise from the crowd and to focus on the duel.

Ken had a smile on his face to show how satisfied the duel turned out to be. "My god, this is the best duel I've ever had!" he beamed. "To think you were able to Special Summon two dragons like that in one turn! It's getting so hyperactive!"

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon, take out the rest of Ken's life points!"!" The advance dragon fires off a powerful crimson helix beam. As it spins fast, the helix divides itself into two red beams.

Even though he lost, Ken didn't seem sad; he was glad that Yasuko got the chance to duel him. "I guess you won then," he admitted as the advance dragon fires off a single blast to the boy, ending his entire life points.

 **(Ken: LP 1200** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The Action Field disintegrated into clouds of dust as the arena is reverted back to its original state. The audiences all cheered for the girl from the You-Show Duel School. Even the students there are rooting for her.

"Alright, Yasuko!" Allie cheered.

"You did it!" Tate praised.

"Shivers!" Frederick squeaked.

Sora had a satisfied smirk on his face. "I knew she was going to win," he commented.

Yasuko, on the other hand, isn't looking all too good. She feels like she is about to puke. The atmosphere of the audience is getting too wild for her to handle. She wants to get out of the stadium. As she walks out of the arena, she is greeted by the You-Show classmates.

"Alright, Yasuko," said Tate. "What a duel!"

"Now, all you need is two more, and you'll be in the Arc League for sure," said Fredrick, making a beam out of his mouth.

Allie gives her a hug. "You were amazing," she remarked.

Yasuko moves away from them. "Thanks, but I've got to go." She wants to get away, but Yuya, Zuzu, and Sora end up coming to her way, much to her annoyance.

"You were awesome," Yuya remarked.

Sora gives her a thumbs up and a wink while holding a chocolate bar. "Only two more to go, girl," he responded.

Zuzu was about to say something when she notices how pale that Yasuko looked. She wonders what is making her look like a zombie. "Yasuko…?" she inquired. "Uh…Are you okay?"

Yasuko waves it off. "I'm fine," she said before pushing herself out of the You-Show and grabs her gym bag. "I'll see you all tomorrow," she excused.

Zuzu wasn't the only one who notices her reaction. Almost everyone in the You-Show duelists all saw how her behavior is. They never know why.

"Yasuko, are you sure you are—" Yuya's hand reaches for her shoulder and before he knows it, Yasuko slaps it away very hard.

"I said I'm fine!" Yasuko's outburst raises high to the max, letting almost everyone at the You-Show take a step back. She quickly realized what happened and averted their gaze. "I apologize…I just…need some rest. Too many duels are getting into my head right now. Good-bye." Yasuko's bangs shadowed over her eyes, avoiding eye contact with anyone.

The You-Show students watch Yasuko exit out of the door with puzzled expressions.

"What was that about?" Tate asked.

"She hasn't made a burst like that before," said Frederick.

"I've never seen her react that way," Allie commented.

Sora gives a questionable look. "Who knows…" he stated. "She's a private person."

Yuya has so many questions that he wants to ask. Yasuko is not telling everyone about what is going on with her, but she is keeping it all to herself. His inquiry only raises the mystery of the girl and when he glances at Zuzu for some reason, she mostly averts his gaze.

* * *

Yasuko wanted to be alone for the time being. The shouts and the cheers of her You-Show are getting into her head. She can't seem to stop her handshaking. She also seems to have trouble breathing steadily. That's when she realizes something. It's happening to her again.

Every time Yasuko gets herself involved in a big event with over a thousand people watching her, screaming out their lungs, and praising her is making her head spin very hard. The louder the audience cheers, the harder it gets. It was all too much. The atmosphere was disrupting her concentration. She wanted to get in the tournament to get payback at Melania Herman. There was no way she can survive dueling in the big crowd herself.

After opening the door, Yasuko wasn't wasting time to get herself to her room, but then Diana had to pop her head out of the kitchen. "Oh, Yasuko, you're back?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Yasuko, giving a sigh at the end.

"Oh good, because you just got a package from Chloe," Diana informed. "She said that it belongs to you."

Yasuko raised an eyebrow. "Package? I didn't order a package," she stated.

"Well, your mother said it's for you," Diana replied.

Yasuko retreats to her room of her comfort zone. She didn't notice a care package box on her desk until she saw it. Yasuko was curious about what it was that her mother had sent her. Did she order something online? Is it another souvenir from one of her photo trips?

Dropping her gym bag, Yasuko comes over to rip the tape off and open the box to see what was inside.

There were two items inside; a shoebox-sized metal container, a smaller box wrapped with bubble wraps, and an envelope in the bottom. Yasuko takes out the container to unwrap the bubble wrap. She also takes out the envelope and sits on her bed. After looking at the metal container thoroughly, Yasuko comes to realize something of the metal container. By looking at the dent, it looked a lot like the one that she found her first Duel Monster cards. She had a flashback in her mind.

The sunset from outside of the window takes Yasuko to remember the same sunset that was moving day. Yasuko and her mother, Chloe, were packing up stuff to move to a different part of Tokyo because of her job relocating to a different building. She remembers exactly how the metal box had a dent. Yasuko was going for the box that is too big for her to carry. She was about to remove the box, but what she didn't know is that the cardboard box had a metal object on top.

A metal container that was in her small palms had a dent, which was caused by Yasuko herself trying to move the larger box. She didn't know that it lurches to the left and spill cards everywhere on the floor. And that's when she remembered how she got involved in Duel Monsters. Yasuko had no idea what Duel Monsters are. She's seen poker cards, but none of the playing cards have weird monsters or anything.

Once Yasuko found the metal box that contains the cards, Chloe discovered that she found her childhood cards, and how Chloe used to play with them when she was in high school. Yasuko is sure that Chloe must be popular in Duel Monsters with so many different cards that are in her box. After she discovered her mother's box of cards, Yasuko started to get be intrigued by Duel Monsters. At first, she only interested in collecting those cards, but when she saw how other kids are playing the game, it turns out that she was a natural. She was winning her duels against kids her age.

All it took was one blink of an eye to getting Yasuko back into reality. After placing the box down, Yasuko opens the envelope that came with the boxes. It was a letter that Chloe must've written for her, and Yasuko reads:

 _Dear Yasuko Yukihana,_

 _I just want to say how proud I am of you for entering a duel school. And when I heard from Diana about you being in the Arc League Championship, I was so overjoyed to think about you. And, I don't mean to intrude, but I thought I send you this box that contains your original deck inside. I promise I didn't make any changes to it. I know you hate me going over your stuff, but I just want to let you know something. This deck represents you. You build this deck from the moment you found my own cards. And after hearing how popular these Action Duels are in Maiami City; I figured that this deck will fit in perfectly. I want to see you duel with this deck because there was such passion in your eyes when I saw you found my cards. I won't be there to watch you, but I promise the next time you ever get into something like this, I will be there for you. Take care, little love._

 _With hugs and kisses, Chloe Saratoga_

Yasuko places a kiss on the envelope as a sign of affection to her foster mother. She opens the box, and Yasuko can see the cards that used to be her original deck before the Frontier Games. She finds it surprising how the cards that were in her original deck can collaborate together. Yasuko had a reminisced look in her eyes. It was her first very own original deck that she created for herself. Yasuko had so many memories with the deck from her dueling club days to the Frontier Games, but now, it means nothing to her because the deck wasn't coming close enough to beat the one person that she is going to defeat in the Arc League Championship.

With a frown forming in her eyes, Yasuko doesn't want to look at the original deck and closes the box. She puts the smaller box aside next to her Pendulum box and goes change out for the day. Unnoticed to her, the crystal pendant that was on top of the Pendulum box starts to glow. Something else was glowing too. The smaller box that contains Yasuko's original deck is glowing from the inside. The glow lasts for only a few more minutes before the light stops from the strange phenomenon.

* * *

 **So, as the series goes on, there will be a shift in the protagonist's deck, but until different arcs show up. This new deck incarnation will come in for the Arc League Championship story arc. Until then, just be patient with this one. I will reveal the deck at the beginning of the Arc-V Championship arc. No spoiler's yet.**

 **As for the phenomenon, that is also a part of the story, but not until all the way to the ending of the whole series. And no, it's not from the Arc-V storyline. The last arc will be my very own custom storyline for the whole series.**

 **Anyways, after reviewing some feedback, I promise to be super-duper extra careful with these duels to make sure they work, but sometimes, combos are very hard to keep track, and the resources they have. So, I'll post a little late for the rest of the year because of those writes. Sometimes, I write duels beforehand, but now, I'm going to outline the duels because it will be easier to keep track before making it into the chapter.**

 **Thank you for your response, and don't forget to have a nice day, fellow readers!**


	28. Chapter 28: Inner Peace

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 28: Inner Peace; Yasuko Yukihana vs Arielle Akanawa_

* * *

The morning sun shines brightly above the sky down toward Yuya and Zuzu who were walking over to Yasuko's house. Lately, Yuya's been anxious to find out what happened to Yasuko at her last exhibition match. Yasuko was normally calm, but her last outburst gives him a sign that is concerning him. He asked Shuzo if he knows any more about Yasuko like if she has medical conditions, incidents that could've happened to her, or anything that may be related to some injuries. Of course, the principal doesn't know anything about Yasuko. Yuya has more questions popping in his head than receiving the answers.

Yuya is walking to Yasuko's place. Zuzu insisted on coming with him because she, too, is worried about Yasuko. It'll be a lot harder for both of them to understand Yasuko's feelings in the exhibition duels if she doesn't open up.

"What's happened to Yasuko yesterday?" Yuya wondered. "Doesn't she know that if she wins her fifth match today, she'll be able to have all six matches by tomorrow?"

Zuzu glances at her childhood friend with a questionable expression. "The way how Yasuko reacted yesterday is disturbing," she said. "This isn't like her to be yelling out like that unless it is something that annoys her."

Yuya turns to Zuzu with a raised eyebrow of curiosity. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Zuzu had a hurtful look. "I think…I think Yasuko has stage fright."

Yuya blinks in surprise. "Stagefright?" he inquired. "How can you be sure? I never saw Yasuko get stage fright." Yuya gazes up in the sky to think about the past few days when he watches the duel against all of her opponents. If he can recall, Yuya never saw any hesitations from Yasuko before. "Yasuko seems to be relaxed in every match I've been to."

Zuzu turns up to Yuya. "Yuya, I know she has stage fright," she affirmed. "Diana once said that Yasuko doesn't like being in front of huge crowds."

Yuya scrutinizes his eyebrows, recalling if he saw Yasuko strange. In all the four matches, Yasuko did it seem to look stressed, but also normal. She was never quivering from any kind of fright; in fact, she wasn't even scared. "But that doesn't mean that Yasuko has never been nervous," said Yuya.

Yuya and Zuzu come to the front door of Diana's home. The boy knocks twice at the door and waits.

A few minutes later, Diana opens the door and greets the kids. "Hi," said Diana. "Are you here to see Yasuko?"

Yuya nodded. "Yeah, is she here?"

Diana points a thumb to upstairs. "Oh, she's upstairs, getting ready," she answered. "She's talking to her mother on a video chat."

Yuya and Zuzu exchange looks at each other. "Uh…mind if we wait?" Yuya asked.

Diana nodded. "Of course," she replied. "Come on in." Yuya and Zuzu both walk inside and remove their shoes before entering the living room. "Can I get you something?" she offered. "Tea? Beverage? Water?"

"Uh…sure, tea sounds fine," Zuzu replied.

"Yeah, uh, tea's good," Yuya responded.

Shortly after ten minutes, Diana comes back with a set of tea for Zuzu and Yuya to take. They each had small sips as Diana takes a seat in the large chair while the teens sit at the couch. "I'd take it you must be classmates, right?" Diana inquired.

Yuya nodded. "Yeah, we all go to Maiami Prep, and You-Show Duel School with her," he said.

"Has Yasuko behaved?" Diana asked out of curiosity.

Zuzu makes a small smile. "I think she's well adjusted," she responded. "But she's still the same girl that we met."

Diana smiles in satisfaction. "Of course." She then looks up at the stairs. "That girl sure does have her things kept close," she said. "I just hope that she'll get over with this Arc League Championship; otherwise, as she would say it, could choke up like the last time."

Zuzu and Yuya look at each other with confusion in their faces. When Diana mentioned 'last time,' it was clear to them that Yasuko did enter a big dueling event like the Arc League.

"Choke up?" Yuya inquired.

"What does she mean last time?" Zuzu asked.

Diana's eyes revert to the teacup in her hand. "I thought Yasuko might have talked over with you guys since you two have been with her when she moved here," she said.

From the expression on Diana's face, it was clear to Yuya that it had to do something about her last tournament that she participated in. "The Tokyo Regional Frontier Games," Yuya announced which cause the two females in the room to turn to him in surprise. "Yasuko mentioned that she was in the Frontier Games three years ago."

Zuzu's eyes widened in shock and lean forward closer to Yuya. "Wait a minute!" she gasped. "Are you saying that Yasuko was _in_ the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games?!"

Yuya looks at Zuzu. "Uh…yeah?"

The thought of Yasuko being in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games is making Zuzu feel bombshell. She is going to faint after hearing about Yasuko's participation in the second biggest event in the country. "No way!" she exclaimed. "How?!" Zuzu turns to Yuya for answers.

"It was an invite from the dueling club at her old school," Yuya answered.

"So then…" Zuzu is puzzling her mind regarding the event. If Yasuko was in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, then she must be wondering how come she never knew anyone named Yasuko before when they announced the roster. "Why didn't I hear anything about her?" Zuzu inquired.

"Because she didn't get in," Diana answered.

The two duelists turn their heads to the guardian. Diana had a sad look. "Tell me, do you two duelists trust each other?" she asked a question to them. "I mean, do you trust each other?"

Yuya and Zuzu were caught off guard from the last question. When they look at each other, Yuya's gaze was met with a slightly blushing Zuzu.

"Of course," Yuya replies. "I trust Zuzu completely."

In return, Zuzu nodded. "And I trust Yuya."

Diana sighs. "How sweet. I understand how Yasuko is always hard about what's around her." She looks back upstairs. "It's just…she usually keeps this to herself mostly." She places the teacup down on the counter. "I don't know exactly how it went down, but I can tell you, kids, this," Diana explained. "Three years ago, Yasuko was the top duelist in Horyuji Academy, and she was the best there was, until the Frontier Games. When she lost during the preliminaries, she quit playing for the dueling club."

Zuzu was surprised at how Yasuko, who is can use all four Extra Deck techniques, would quit from her dueling club. "She quit dueling for her dueling club?" she repeated. "But why?"

Diana shrugs. "I honestly don't know, but I do know that during the Frontier Games, she had someone to watch her back, and that person turned on her right at the last half hour of the preliminaries," she revealed. "And after that, she and the duel club had a falling out."

"Really?" Yuya inquired.

Diana nodded. "Yasuko had a hard time making friends of her own, especially after she cut all ties to her dueling club."

Yuya can't believe someone would betray Yasuko in the Frontier Games just to get inside the main tournament event. Yasuko should've entered the Frontier Games because she was a strong duelist who can beat against anyone who throws at her.

His eyes seem to harden, thinking about how someone would backstab a girl like Yasuko and causing her to be rough and cold. He wanted to do something for her. He wanted to make Yasuko feel like she is worth something.

"Uh, do you have a bathroom?" Yuya asked.

"It's upstairs, to the left," Diana instructed, pointing at the stairs.

"Thank you," said Yuya before getting himself standing and walk the flight of stairs.

As the boy disappeared up on the second floor, Diane swiftly turns to the girl with a mischievous smile. "Tell me, are you somewhat dating him?" she asked, eager to hear her response.

Like a thermostat, Zuzu's head suddenly turns bright red from all the blushing in embarrassment and her only response was a loud, "Ehhhh!?"

* * *

Yuya walks down the hallway to find the bathroom. As he passes a closed door, he heard someone else's voice behind the doorframe.

"Congratulations on your fourth match yesterday, Yasuko." Yuya knew right then that it was a woman, and he stops to lean closer to the door. Eavesdropping onto the conversation between Yasuko and her mother is bad, but the least he can do is listen to Yasuko's story and maybe he can understand her better.

* * *

On the other side of the door, Yasuko is using Diana's computer to do a video chat with Chloe, who is still working on a photograph trip in Tasmania.

"Thanks, mom," Yasuko responded. "And uh…thank you for the package that you send me."

The short black-haired woman stares at the camera to talk with her foster daughter. "So, I hear you are now attending a duel school," she informed, giving the girl a very big smile.

"Yeah, I did," Yasuko responded bluntly. "It's called the You-Show Duel School."

Yasuko can see how big Chloe's eyes grew from the moment she spoke about the duel school. "Oh my god! That is _so_ cool!" she beamed. "I cannot believe you are now in Yusho Sakaki's You-Show Duel School!"

Yasuko gives a weird look. "Mom, please don't say anything like that. Saying 'Yusho' and 'You-Show' is almost as confusing as saying something like 'feet and 'feat'," she replied.

Chloe gives a small chuckle of amusement: "I think it's funny," she commented.

"I think it's confusing," Yasuko commented back.

Chloe seems very pleased to see the news from her daughter. "But to be honest…" Chloe paused. "I'm glad that you finally get to join a duel school," she said with a blissful smile. "Hearing you being in a duel school after your fallout with your old dueling club when you lost your entrance to the Frontier Games made me feel happy for you."

Yasuko supports her head with her elbow while giving her mother a blank look. "I'm…just trying it out, mom," she stated. "See what they have to offer." The slight sadness on her mom gives Yasuko the sign that tells her the disappointment Chloe is making to her decision.

"Try out?" Chloe questioned. "Don't tell me you're not going to be with them any time soon?"

Yasuko sighed, looking at the box of her Pendulum cards. "That…depends…" she hesitated, uncomfortable with talking about her feelings in the You-Show. Closing her eyes, Yasuko is trying to say something to her mother without disappointing her expectations. "Mom…I'm only going to You-Show because…" she paused. Yasuko opens her eyes and looks at her mother. "They're pretty much all that I've got in this city," she continued. "The duel schools here are crap; I'd rather take a ballet class than be in a school full of degenerate students who are thinking about meeting their expectations to do something that will make them feel proud of themselves."

Chloe seems hurt after her last comment. "Yasuko…" she began. "I know you don't think of them highly, but I'm asking is at least give them a chance."

The girl is skeptical about her mother's plea to take some time with the You-Show people. "Mom, I don't think they have a chance in this Arc League Championship," she pointed out. "They could barely stand their feet against the Leo Institute let alone to kindergarteners."

Chloe scowls. "Then why did you join the You-Show in the first place?" she asked. Chloe makes the same posture as Yasuko's to make her point. "I know you. I've been raising you since I brought you here. You never even once try to join a duel organization."

"Mom, the You-Show is all about freedom," Yasuko answered. "They all have the freedom to make their own rules and boundaries, and I want to keep that freedom."

Chloe decreases her scowl and gives her a pleased expression on her face. "I'd think it's wonderful that you've chosen a school like the You-Show. Diana told me they're good people, and they can help you understand things that you don't know about."

Yasuko has doubts about what her mother is trying to point out. "But what happens if they start to expect better of me?" Yasuko questioned. "They're no different from my old dueling club in Horyuji Academy. They're _expecting_ me to win all six matches to get into the Arc League. They don't know that all my win streaks have gotten me too much pressure. It's nerve-racking. I'm only doing this because there is a person on my list that I want to get back at."

Yasuko slouches back against the chair and looks at the box of her Pendulum cards. It's been weeks since she put away her Pendulum cards. She hasn't even seen her monster card in ages, and Yasuko felt it is very pressuring from the audiences who are watching her matches to see what she is more than what she is capable of.

Over the past few days, since she started to earn her six consecutive wins, Yasuko starts to question if she should use the Pendulum cards that she had or not. She became aware of how popular the Pendulum Cards are becoming since Yuya's debut? But if she starts using them in public, it will cause more problems than she'll have.

"Why don't they understand that not everyone likes to be in front of the spotlight? The stress from the open crowds is getting back to me?" Yasuko asked. "It's just so stressful."

"It didn't seem stressful for you when you duel in front of twenty people," Chloe pointed out.

"And that's because I was always dueling random people, and some spectators somehow spotted my duels," Yasuko replied. She gives a heavy sigh and leans forward to look at her mother. "Mom…this is way out of my hand. I have too many things on my plate. This whole six consecutive official wins, and then teaching this Yuya Sakaki about Extra Deck is taking too much of my time."

Chloe raises an eyebrow at her daughter. "So why are you teaching this kid the Extra Deck then? Didn't he learned it at the duel school that you are going?"

Yasuko makes a sigh of disillusionment. "Shuzo did, and I don't think he's doing it right," she stated. "It's rather better to learn it on the floor rather than a classroom."

Chloe seems to have a satisfied smile on her face. "Well, this is unexpected. You, teaching someone the Extra Deck? It's not like you to be teaching someone an Extra Deck technique without a good reason."

Yasuko shrugs. "I'm only doing this out of favor. Yuya and I are practically the only two duelists who have Pendulum Cards and can Pendulum Summon," she said. "Except Declan," she muttered quietly under her voice.

Chloe smiles at her daughter. "I should be thankful for him," she admitted, catching her daughter by surprise.

"You mean Yuya?" Yasuko questioned.

Chloe lets a small snicker out of her mouth. "It's wonderful that you and this Yuya kid are bonding," she chuckled.

Despite getting the positive energy from her mother, Yasuko isn't sure about what she is implying. "So?"

"So…" Chloe began. "I think he should be your friend; your _real_ friend."

Yasuko adjusts herself and twirls her crystal keychain in her finger. "Out of all the people that I've met in this city, Yuya seems to be sticking to me like glue" she stated. "All I could say is...I just hope he doesn't end up backstabbing me like the last person in the Frontier Games."

Chloe understands what Yasuko meant. "I know what you mean, darling," she responded. "At least give him a chance to be something amazing for you."

"How am I to know if he trusts me?" Yasuko asked.

"I don't know sweetheart," Chloe replied. "The least you can do is let him decide."

Yasuko nodded with little obedience. "Anyways, I better go, my fifth match is about to begin," she reported.

"Right, well…take care baby girl," Chloe chimed.

"Mom, I'm not a little girl anymore," Yasuko said flatly.

Chloe gives a wink. "But you still are to me," she said sarcastically. "I love you, sweety."

Yasuko nodded. "I love you too, mom." She places two fingertips on her lips and pressed on the screen as if she is kissing her mom on the cheeks like she usually does. In return, Chloe did the same thing. And with that, Chloe disconnects herself from the web, cutting the signal.

After getting her gym bag and her duel disk holster, Yasuko walks out of the computer room and opens the door to exit. At the same time, someone else seems to be upstairs. The sound of the toilet flushing comes to the right behind the door and Yuya emerges from the bathroom.

"Oh, Yuya," said Yasuko, surprised. "When did you get here?"

"Just about ten minutes ago," Yuya responded quietly. "Uh…should we get going? I mean, to your fifth match." The girl had to assume if Yuya was eavesdropping, but she may assume that he did and would probably give a bat on his head for overhearing her conversation with her mother.

"Yeah, let's go," Yasuko said bluntly and wheeled herself to get downstairs.

* * *

Taking the bus to the duel school to a remote location in the area near the city can be strange. The duel school happens to be something similar to the Tokyo Imperial Palace, only it is wider and taller at the castle in the center. On top of the bridge, a gate has a bold sign that tells visitors the name of the duel school.

 _Mystic Fighters Duel School_

The three duelists are on top of the hill that sees the north side of Maiami City. Yasuko looks and reads the sign over again to make sure that it is the right school where Nico has sent her. "This must be the place," said Yasuko. The girl makes her way inside the gate.

Yasuko was adjusting herself to the sigh of the Japanese garden that is in front of her. There are students here who wear garbs like resembles a lot like the ones that monks wear in Tibet. Some of them seem to be meditating on boulders in the middle of a pond. Some were training on balancing themselves on top of bamboo poles. Several other students were working on drawing card workouts.

As Yasuko walks forward, she spots a beautiful woman with long black hair that goes down to her waist with long decorative fingernails in a kimono dress garb. Her hazel eyes sparkle under the sunlight and look at the people around the arena.

Upon seeing Yasuko's appearance, the woman smiles at her. "Hi there," she responded. She wheeled herself to fully face the girl. "I'd take it…you are Yasuko Yukihana of the You-Show Duel School?" she guessed.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow of confusion. "Uh…yeah, how'd you know?" she asked.

"I can read minds," she commented.

Yasuko makes a skeptical expression. "What?" she inquired bluntly.

The young woman chuckles with amusement. "I'm only kidding, I got an email from Nico Smiley saying that a girl name Yasuko is supposed to be dueling today at 3," she said. "I am Ayala Sumeragi, the current headmistress of the Mystic FightersDuel School." The headmistress bows her head to Yasuko as a sign of respect.

Yasuko makes a small bow in return. "It's a pleasure meeting you, Miss Sumeragi."

Aline brings her head up and she gestures her hand to the stone pathway. "Come, we have much to do," she said.

Yasuko follows the woman through a narrow stone path as she watches the students around her perform various meditation moves and balancing themselves with rocks in their backhand.

"I am told that you are the opponent for Arielle Akanawa, right?" Aayla asked.

"Uh…yeah," Yasuko replied. "Where is she?"

Ayala stops as well as Yasuko. She points at the tea house in the pond with one bridge connecting to the land. "She is right there."

Yasuko follows the direction of where the girl is and spots the sixteen-years-old with long silky black hair and bright blue eyes. Her light pale skin shines under the bright blue sky. She also appears to be wearing a decorative white kimono with red and pink pattern lines streaming down to the sleeves. Unlike sandals in traditional kimonos, she is wearing dark grey shoes. Arielle notices her and stands up to walk around the tea house and the pond to greet her.

Arielle bows her head to the headmistress. "Headmistress," she said quietly.

Ayala bows in return. "Hello, Arielle, I have news," she informed. "Your opponent is here."

Arielle looks up and turns to set her gaze at Yasuko. "Greetings, Miss Yasuko Yukihana, I am Arielle Akanawa, and I am the Senior member for this year's Arc League Championship."

Yasuko felt her shoulders sagged in disappointment. She can't believe that she is dueling another senior member from a different duel school who is going to the Arc League Championship. "It's…nice to meet you, Arielle Akanawa," she replied.

"I ask you to please give me about ten minutes; I have to teach these youngsters there one more lesson." She gestures to a group of younger kids who are meditating on mats.

Yasuko's eyebrows rose in question and glances over her shoulder to find it surprising to see the three little kids from You-Show meditating with the other youngsters. While Tate and Allie are focused, Frederick looked like he could fall asleep any time if he stays in his sitting position longer.

"Alright kids, that will be all for today," Arielle announced. "Now remember what we taught you; focus your mind and body, and you will flow in the current."

As the youngsters disperse, the three kids all got up and saw Yasuko standing behind Arielle.

"It's Yasuko!" Tate called and everyone else comes over to the girl.

Allie hugs Yasuko as always. "Hi, Yasuko!" she beamed, giving a cute smile around the corner of the mouth.

"It's so nice to see you here," said Frederick.

Yasuko stares at the three little kids. "I'd take it you were all waiting for me?" she inquired.

Tate nodded. "We all are," he said. "We were here early, and this girl, Arielle, offered to be a part of her meditation class."

"I felt like my brain's been massaged," Fredrick commented.

Allie's little gold eyes look up to Yasuko. "So, are you ready to win your fifth match?"

Yasuko lightly pushes the little girl away. "I will be." Yasuko turns around and realizes that Yuya and Zuzu enter the duel school palace already.

"And what are you two been?" Yasuko asked. "Have you decided to kiss and make up?"

Zuzu's face gets blushing red. "Yasuko!" she exclaimed. "Don't say something like that!"

"I'd take it you and your friend of a boy were staying behind to see if the kids are all present," Yasuko assumed.

Zuzu gives a dull look. "I'd take it you were thinking of a joke," she countered.

"Like I have jokes," Yasuko replied.

Sora appears from behind the three kids with licorice in his mouth. "But mind if I ask," he called. "What are you gonna do once you get inside that arena?"

Yasuko didn't seem to care about how Sora manages to get himself inside when the front entrance was right behind Yuya and Zuzu, not to mention the thirty feet wall that surrounds the school. "What I always do…" she answered. "I'm gonna win."

* * *

Over at the school's big stadium, the You-Show students and the Mystic Fighter apprentices stand around the arena with Yasuko and Arielle at the center.

The senior duelist has a smile on her face. "I can see how serious you must be in this match," she said.

Yasuko narrows her eyes at her. "People tend to be serious about things like this," she commented. "You don't seem to be serious at all."

Arielle closed her eyes and said, "We are all different from how we keep our heads cool." Her eyes open and it shows the calm atmosphere around her. "But what's bothering me is that you're thinking…I am hard and have some kind of powers that are indeed possible," she said sincerely. "That's a good trait of you, Yasuko Yukihana."

Arielle smiles gracefully and takes out her white duel disk. "Alright then, we shall begin the duel," she declared.

Everyone at the stadium is giving screams of delight to the star duelist of Mystic Fighters

"Ah, Arielle Akanawa is dueling!"

"I'm so star struck!"

Yasuko can't believe that she is dueling another popular member.

The female spectator had a kimono on with a microphone on her ear. "Alright, are you people ready to shine!" She gets a loud response of screaming from the audiences in the Mystic Fighters' side. "Alright then, let's get this duel underway!" she announced. "We all have two days left until the Arc League Championship! Duelists everywhere all have two days to make the mark before the deadline, so let us do our best and be on the game! Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, allow me to introduce to you, the Senior class duelist for this year's Arc League Championship. She was on top of the chain in last year's Junior Class Arc League Championship, so let's give it up for Arielle Akanawa!" The girls are probably screaming out of their lungs at the sight of the most beautiful duelist in the school.

Arielle waves back at the audience with a smile on her face before she stares back at Yasuko. "And now, please welcome, our guest star, the aspiring duelist from the You-Show Duel School, the one and only duel school of Yusho Sakaki! Yasuko Yukihana!"

Yasuko is having a hard time trying to block out the noise coming from the crowd. Even the You-Show kids are rolling along with it.

"Alright, Yasuko!" Allie cheered.

"Go get 'em!" Tate called.

"You got this!" Frederick added.

Unlike the three little kids who were energetic enough to see her win, Yuya and Zuzu were holding back on the cheering and watches their classmates worriedly. "Yasuko…" Zuzu whispered.

Yuya set his eyes at the girl. He wanted to support her, but how can he if she is taking in the pressure from him and the other students.

"Alright then, may I present to you, the headmistress of Mystic Fighter Duel School, the former pro-duelist representative of the Kyushu region, Headmistress Ayala Sumeragi!" The spotlights shine up from the stage to Ayala Sumeragi.

"Welcome, fellow people of Maiami City, and thank you for attending the Mystic Fighter Duel School exhibition match," she pronounced. "The Mystic Fighter Duel School is built to help students find their center and learn to be one with their mind and body. If one student can learn to be one with their spirit and their mind, then they will achieve a state of peace and calmness in any stressful situation. That is the way of the Mystic Fighter Duel School. When the spirit and thoughts become one, the synthesis will give way to true inner peace."

Ayala spreads her arms wide for her audiences. "Now that introductions are done, it is time to bring together the duel!" She points up in the air. "I activate the Action Field Spell, The Enchanted Forest!" Ayala activates the Action Field Spell Card: **The Enchanted Forest**.

The ARC system is activated and the whole glass arena is transformed into a world of autumn where the tall oak trees tower over the two duelists, surrounding them with a mixture of red bushes and leaves on the ground while the trees have orange leaves above the trees. The two duelists appear to be standing in the middle of a sacred ground where four giant stone tablets take up the corner into a square inside a stone circle. The fogs were so thick that Yasuko could barely see anything that is two feet in front of her. Arielle stands with her glowing purple blade from her white duel disk

"Now then, shall we begin the duel?" Arielle asked.

"Let's," Yasuko replied.

Yasuko's green duel disk glows out her blue blade. The blade colors from each duelist illuminate the field around them.

"Two duelists locked in an epic battle for judgment!" Arielle chanted.

"But only one shall be the winner of the match!" Yasuko recited.

"With the monsters set and ready for battle…"

"Which one will conquer all!"

"Behold! The greatest evolution of dueling!" They both chorused together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Arielle Akanawa (LP: 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP: 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!**_ _"_ They shouted.

The Action Card bubble in the air pops and falls anywhere on the field. With five cards in their hand, they start the duel with Arielle taking the turn.

 **Turn 1: Arielle (5x cards)**

"I shall go first!" Arielle declared.

Arielle takes out a card from her hand. "From my hand, I activate the Field Spell, Shiranui Style Synthesis!" Arielle activates the Field Spell Card: **Shiranui Style Synthesis**. "Next, I Normal Summon Shiranui Squire!" Arielle Normal Summons **Shiranui Squire (ATK 1500/DEF 0)**. On Arielle's field, a samurai boy wearing a pink shirt and a long red hakama pants wearing a naginata from his palm appears from the leaves below the ground. "Now, Squire's special effect activates!" Arielle exclaimed. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one Shiranui Spectralsword Tuner monster from my deck!" A card pops out of Arielle's deck and takes it out to Special Summon **Shiranui Spectralsword (ATK 800/DEF 0)**. "I Special Summon Shiranui Spectralsword!" The leaves right next to Arielle start to fly upwards before creating a small tornado to form a ghost samurai figure with a katana sword that is projecting spectral energy from the blade.

The You-Show people are all shocked that Yasuko's opponent has a Tuner monster out on the field.

"What? She's got a tuner monster out already?" Tate inquired.

"But that means…" Allie began.

"She can Synchro Summon," Frederick finished.

Arielle's smile never left her face as she makes her next move. "Now, I tune the level 2 Spectralsword with my level 4 Squire!" The ghost samurai holds the spectral sword before slashing it to turn itself into two green rings. The rings scan the squire until he is nothing but four glowing orbs in the center. Once the orbs are aligned, the rings shoot out a long beam of white light.

 **(2 + 4 = 6)**

" _Spirits of the fallen samurai, rise and take up arms with the powers of the most legendary swordsman that ever walked this earth!_ I _**Synchro Summon**_ _! Rise, level 6! Shiranui Samuraisaga!"_ Arielle Synchro Summons **Shiranui Samuraisaga (ATK 2500/DEF 0)**. From out of the white light is a samurai wielding the same energy samurai katana that is emitting spectral energy coming from the ghost samurai.

"Next, I set a card face-down, and end my turn," Arielle concluded as she Sets a card. The Shiranui girl makes a small smile over to Yasuko. "Now, we shall begin the fight of the life," she said. "I want to see what you are made of, Yasuko Yukihana."

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko is narrowing her eyes at her opponent. She has dealt with older opponents who've talked too much and had a lot of pride in themselves, and that's why she tends to use that to her advantage. "I'm about to show some surprises," she said. "It's my turn! I draw!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck.

By looking at her hand, she found herself to be in a good spot to finish her opponent as quick as she can. "I activate Schwarzschild Limit Dragon's special effect from my hand!" Yasuko declared. "When my opponent controls a monster with 2000 or more ATK points, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand!" She takes out the card and Special Summons **Schwarzschild Limit Dragon (ATK 2000/DEF 0)**. From the portal above Yasuko, a long serpent dragon with bronze scales and orange underbelly skin flies in the air, giving a hollow roar with one claw from each limp sticking out.

"Next, I activate the Spell, Melody of the Awakening Dragon!" Yasuko activates the Spell Card: **The Melody of the Awakening Dragon**. "By discarding one card, I can add two dragon monsters with 3000 or more ATK points and 2500 or less DEF points from my deck to my hand!" She discards one card to add two dragon monsters: **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon** and **White Night Dragon**. "I add White Night Dragon and Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon." She looks over at her cards that are in her hand.

"Now, I can activate Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "I can tribute summon Odd-Eyes by tributing one level 5 or higher monster!" She throws her arm out to demonstrate the ability. "I tribute my Schwarzschild Limit Dragon to Tribute Summon Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Yasuko tributes her limit dragon to Tribute Summon **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**. The limit dragon bursts into millions of tiny dust particles before reforming back together into the red-scaled dragon with red and green heterochromia eyes flapping its grayscaled wings from the backbone while it gives off a roar.

The You-Show audiences are all very excited about how Yasuko is going to earn her fifth victory fast.

"Alright, that means Odd-Eyes can use its effect," said Tate. "When it is Tributed Summoned, Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon can destroy one monster on Arielle's field and deal damage equal to its original ATK points!" He exclaimed at the end of the sentence.

"Ha, that wasn't so tough," Frederick laughed; but unfortunately, he may be proven wrong as Arielle makes a counter maneuver against the effect.

"I activate my Continuous Trap! Shiranui Style Samara!" Arielle flips up her face-down Continuous Trap Card: **Shiranui Style Samara**. "Once per turn, I can banish one face-up Zombie monster that I control and for the rest of the turn, I take no damage!" She points at the samuraisaga. "I banish my Shiranui Samuraisaga!" The samuraisaga monster disappears into thousands of particles, leaving Arielle exposed but safe from any damage. "Now, Samuraisaga's special effect activates!" she added. "If Samuraisaga is banished, I can target one monster on your field, and it loses 500 ATK points!" She points at the advance dragon. "I target your Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" The ghost of the samurai appears as a mirage before colliding with the advance dragon, weakening it by only a small portion.

 **(Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon: ATK 3000** → **2500)**

Yasuko's eyes narrowed in annoyance after her opponent manages to save herself from any further damage. "I Set a card face-down, and I end my turn." Since Arielle is immune to damage this turn, Yasuko Sets a card.

Allie raises an eyebrow. "What? That's it?" she asked.

"Well, yeah," said Tate. "Arielle banishes her monster so that she cannot take any damage this turn."

"And to think that Yasuko was about to win the match so easily," Frederick responded with a bit of disappointment.

Yuya is focused on the duel. Lately, he's been hoping that Yasuko might do something that will even the odds against Arielle, but from the way how she tried to end the duel so quickly tell that Yasuko is rushing. He's seen Yasuko duel, but this was different.

"This is strange," said Yuya, catching Zuzu's attention.

"What do you mean?" Zuzu asked him.

"Out of all the duels that I've seen with Yasuko, this one is not like the other matches before," Yuya stated. "I've never seen Yasuko getting rushed like this before."

"Well," Zuzu began. "It's because the deadline is tomorrow, and Yasuko has to get into the Arc League Championship."

There was something else for Yuya to understand. When he heard Yasuko explaining to her mother about expecting her to do something, he asked himself what does that mean? What does Yasuko mean when she said what if they're starting to expect better of her? He is having more questions popping into his mind than before. The least he can do is wait and see.

 **Turn 3: Arielle (2x cards)**

Arielle was watching Yasuko across from her with a frown on her face. Clearly, the girl shows some sort of disapproval of the way how Yasuko is acting in the duel. "You are distressed," she stated which caught Yasuko by surprise.

"What?" Yasuko inquired.

Arielle takes a look at Yasuko from head-to-toe like she is inspecting a uniformed soldier. "When you try to take my life points in one swift blow, I felt something deep inside of you," said Arielle. "You harbor a hidden power that exceeds even my own." She closes her eyes to start explaining to the annoyed Yasuko. "There is a stronger power in that deck of yours. I know I can feel it." She makes eye contact with Yasuko and asked, "Why are you holding back from using this power of yours?"

Yasuko's narrowed eyes turned into a frown. "It's none of your business," she retorted. "Now, make your move, stop wasting my time."

Arielle can see the attitude that Yasuko is displaying toward her in front of the audience. "Such manners like that will not be tolerated here in the Mystic Fighter Duel School," she stated. "Perhaps, I need to show you what it means to be one with body and mind." She places a finger on top of her deck. "My turn!" She draws a card from her deck.

"Since I control no monsters on the field, I activate Shiranui Style Synthesis's effect!" Arielle began. "Once per turn, I can send one card from my hand to the graveyard to activate one of these effects; either I target one Zombie monster that I control to the graveyard and Special Summon it or return one banished Zombie monster to the graveyard." She takes the **Shiranui Samuraisaga** and returns it to the graveyard. "I return my Samuraisaga back to the graveyard." She then takes out a card and activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Shiranui Style Solemnity**.

"From my hand, I activate the Continuous Spell, Shiranui Style Solemnity!" Arielle exclaimed. "And then, I summon Shiranui Samurai." In addition to the spell, Arielle Normal Summons **Shiranui Samurai (ATK 1800/DEF 0)**. A samurai wielding a magic katana sword with blue energy emitting from the blade-like steam appears on the field. "Now, I activate the second effect of Solemnity!" Arielle added. "This card lets me target one Zombie monster that I control, and banish it, then send one Zombie monster with 0 DEF points from my deck to the graveyard." She points at the samurai. "I banish my Samurai and send Shiranui Solitaire from my deck to the graveyard!"

Arielle banishes her **Shiranui Samurai** and then a card pops out for Arielle to send her **Shiranui Solitaire** from the deck to the graveyard.

"So, wait a minute?" Allie inquired. "Why would she banish her monster to send one monster from her deck to the graveyard?"

"I have no idea," Tate answered.

Arielle continues with the move. "Now, I activate Samurai's special effect," said Arielle. "When Samurai is banished, I can add one Shiranui monster from my graveyard back to my hand." A card pops out from her white duel disk and adds **Shiranui Squire**. "I add back my Shiranui Squire from my graveyard back to my hand." She adds it, and Arielle makes an impossible move that no one ever thought would be possible.

"Now, I activate the Spectralsword's special effect that is in my graveyard," Arielle declared. "I can banish one Non-Tuner Zombie monster from my graveyard and Spectralsword to Special Summon one Zombie Synchro Monster from my Extra Deck whose Level is equal to the total of levels from the monsters that are banished by Spectralsword's effect!"

"What?!" Yasuko gasped. "You can Special Summon from your Extra Deck without a Synchro Summon?"

"No way!" The three kids gasped too.

"This is not looking too good," Sora added

Arielle raises her hand to point at Yasuko. "I felt a strong presence of power that lies underneath that mask you've built, and I will exploit it using the full potential of my deck," she said. "Take this as a warning, Yasuko! I banish my Spectralsword and my Samuaisagafrom my deck to Special Summon Shiranui Shogunsaga!" The spectralsword and the samuraisaga appear in the air Arielle before the orange and red leaves swirls around them like a tornado. The two monsters disappears upon being sucked into the tornado as Arielle uses the effect of her Spectralsword to Special Summon **Shiranui Shogunsaga (ATK 3000/DEF 0)**. The tornado grows rapidly before Yasuko as the winds picked up from everywhere. The tornado vanishes instantly to reveal a monster that is a male samurai warrior with long lavender hair wearing a long red jacket with black flames decorated at the bottom holding two swords: one that is flaming out the fire and the second is the spectral sword weapon.

"Whoa," said Yuya. "Did Arielle Special Summoned a monster from the Extra Deck?"

"Amazing," Zuzu commented. "She didn't even do a Synchro Summon just to get a Synchro monster on the field."

Sora licked his lollipop while giving a chastised look to Yasuko. "Yeah, I don't think she's going to make it this far," he commented.

Yuya and Zuzu are getting worried about the match. If Arielle can Special Summon an Extra Deck monster without using the requirement of a Synchro Summon, then it could be trouble for the girl.

"If Yasuko doesn't find something fast, she'll lose this match," said Zuzu, worried.

Arielle raised a hand over her head. "Now, Shogunsaga's special effect activates!" she exclaimed. "When this monster is Special Summoned, I can banish one Zombie monster from my graveyard, and it gains ATK points equal to its original!" She chooses one monster to banish, and the monster is **Shiranui Solitaire**. "I banish my Solitaire to have my monster gain 500 ATK points!" The solitaire shaman appears as a mirage before the monster merges with the shogunsaga to give the monster a small power boost.

 **(Shiranui Shogunsaga: ATK 3000** → **3500)**

"Ah, that doesn't look too bad," Frederick assured. "It won't do much damage to Yasuko."

Frederick may prove wrong when Arielle makes her next move. "Now, Shiranui Solitaire's effect activates!" she exclaimed. "When the monster is banished, I can target up to two banished monsters if I control a Shiranui Style Synthesis and Special Summon them!" She targets the two monsters that are banished and, with the effect of her solitaire shaman, Arielle Special Summons **Shiranui Spectralsword** in Defense Position and **Shiranui Samuraisaga** in Attack Position. The solitaire shaman and the ghost samurai wielding the sword appears back on the field.

"Oh no!" Allie cried out. "If that monster attacks Odd-Eyes, then Yasuko will be wide open for a direct attack!"

"Battle!" Arielle declared. "Shiranui Shogunsaga, attack Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" The shogunsaga monster readies his two sword and leaps on over to make two swift slashes at the advance dragon. They were so fast that the slashes were like winds that cannot be seen. The advance dragon explodes, pushing Yasuko back from the aftershock, but still stands with some damage to her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3500)**

"I activate my Trap! Defense Draw!" Yasuko activates her first face-down Trap Card: **Defense Draw**. "This card lets me take no further damage this turn and lets me draw a card!" Due to the effect of her trap card, Yasuko is safe from taking damage, and she draws a card.

Arielle's eyes raise one eyebrow out of interest. "Impressive," she commented. "You've managed to save yourself, but I still want to know the conflict that you are experiencing."

Yasuko's head lifts, perplexed by how a girl like Arielle knows what she is feeling. "What?"

Arielle narrows her eyes slightly. Her eyes show a sign of disappointment. "Yasuko Yukihana," she addressed which caught the girl by surprise. "I can see how conflicted you are right now."

Yasuko glares at her opponent. "What are you talking about?" she inquired.

"Your anticipation of my attacks exceeds what I thought," said Arielle. "But your mind is too sluggish to keep up with that reaction speed; therefore, your heart is not one with your mind."

The girl didn't seem to like how she is lecturing her. Her lower jaws tightened to hear her discourse. "What do you know about my mind? Trying to play the role of a psychic?" she questioned.

"I am not a psychic," Arielle admitted. "I was taught to understand my opponent and learn their way through dueling. I came to realize something about you…" She closes her eyes and said, "Your resolve is gradually weakening."

Yasuko's eyes had a fixed look at her opponent. "Shut up!" she retorted. She makes a run across the field for Action Cards. She can feel the eyes of Arielle staring at her back.

"You think running away will be enough?" Arielle called off from somewhere. "I will exploit this power that I am sensing, and I will make you do it." Arielle takes out one card and Sets it. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn," she concluded. "Which means Shogunsaga's ATK points return to normal."

 **(Shiranui Shogunsaga: ATK 3500** → **3000)**

As the winds blow the leaves below her feet, Arielle disappears like a ghost, probably pursuing Yasuko to find herself some Action Cards.

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (2x cards)**

Yasuko keeps running into the auburn forest area. She gets inside a thick fog as it shrouds around her. The fog is so thick that she cannot see two feet in front of her.

"You are rushing into things," said Arielle. "You are trying to keep your mind cool, but you seem to be having a struggle now. Why is that?" Yasuko turns to find Arielle and her monsters in a clearing. "Why?" Arielle asked. "I would like to know."

Yasuko grits her teeth. "It's none of your business," she rebuked.

"Your mind is troubling your heart, and if you cannot sync yourself with all two components, then pain and suffering will come to you," said Arielle. "By harmonizing your thoughts, you can achieve peace and that gives you the true edge over the duel."

Yasuko gets into the clearing and looks frantically for Arielle, but the red and orange leaves around her make it difficult to find Arielle. "It's my turn," said Yasuko. "I draw!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck.

"I activate the Return of the Dragon Lords Spell!" Yasuko activates the Spell Card: **Return of the Dragon Lords**. "This card lets me target one level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my graveyard and Special Summon it!" She chooses to find herself one monster and Special Summons **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon**. "I Special Summon Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Once again, the red dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes with grayscaled wings reappears back on the field.

"Now, I activate the Spell, Trade-In!" Yasuko activates the Spell Card: **Trade-In**. "This card makes me discard one level 8 monster from my hand to draw two cards!" Yasuko discards **White Night Dragon** to draw two cards.

"I summon Assault Wyvern!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1800/DEF 1000)**. On her field, a blue wyvern appears on the field. She starts to run again and after several minutes later, Yasuko spots an Action Card hanging onto an ice statue. She swipes it to activate the Action Spell Card: **Powerize**. "I activate the Action Spell! Powerize!" she exclaimed. "This card gives Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon 1000 ATK points until the End Phase!" The Action Card perfumes a strong yellow scene that makes the advance dragon sniff into the aroma and gives it a power boost.

 **(Odd-Eyes Advance** **Dragon: ATK 3000** → **4000)**

"Battle!" She points at the auburn mixed bush. "Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon, attack Shiranui Shogunsaga!" The advance dragon powers up its red helix beam before unleashing it over to an auburn bush where the shogunsaga is located; unfortunately, Arielle had an Action Card in her hand and activates the Action Spell Card: **Miracle**.

"I activate the Action Spell, Miracle!" Arielle shouted. "This turn, my monster isn't destroyed in battle, and I take to halve the damage this turn!" The red helix beam was blocked by the Action Card that popped up from out of nowhere, but Yasuko was prepared for that.

Quickly, Yasuko sprints over to a tall rock cliff and makes a wall-run where she swipes yet another Action Card and activates the Action Spell Card: **No Action**. "I activate the Action Spell, No Action!" Yasuko exclaimed. "This card negates an Action Card that was activated this turn!"

Arielle's duel disk makes a loud beep to reject the activation of the Action Card, thus negating its effect. Arielle grits her teeth as she prepared to take the damage. The red helix beam punched through the Action Card and makes a direct hit on the shogunsaga monster, dealing damage to Arielle.

 **(Arielle: LP 4000** → **3000)**

"Now, I activate Odd-Eyes' special effect!" Yasuko declared. "When this monster successfully destroys a monster in battle, I can Special Summon one Level 5 or higher monster from my hand or graveyard in Defense Position!" She picks one monster that is in her graveyard and Special Summons **White Night Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)** in Defense Position. "I Special Summon White Night Dragon from my graveyard!" From the portal in front of Yasuko, an ice dragon made of pure ice appears on the field.

"Assault Wyvern, attack Shiranui Spectralsword!" The blue wyvern makes a zip past in the air and slashes the ghost samurai with its chin bone, destroying the monster. "Now Assault Wyvern's special effect activates! When this card destroys a monster in battle, I can tribute it to Special Summon one Dragon monster from my hand!" The blue wyvern bursts into particles before it reassembles to Special Summon **Pandemic Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 1000)**. The particles form a biohazard dragon with a biohazard shaped wings and a sharp tail.

"Wow!" Tate gasped. "Yasuko was able to Special Summon two dragons in one turn! This is going to be it!"

"With three monsters out, Arielle doesn't have a monster left on the field to even withstand those three," said Allie.

"This is so going to give me the shivers," Frederick added.

Zuzu makes a beam toward Yasuko's comeback. "If Yasuko can keep this up, she'll be able to win," she said.

Sora nodded. "Looks like this will be easy picking for Yasuko," he stated, chewing on some marshmallows.

Yuya, on the other hand, kept silent, watching every move that Yasuko makes. She had three strong monsters on the field and one face-down. He is sure that Yasuko is going to win this match, but for some reason, he can't get this uneasy feeling from his gut.

"I end my turn," Yasuko concluded. "And now, the Action Spell Card wears off, returning my Odd-Eyes' ATK points to normal." Since Yasuko ended her turn, the effect of the Action Card resolves to have the monster return to its original ATK points.

 **(Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon: ATK 4000** → **3000)**

 **Turn 5: Arielle (2x cards)**

Arielle was still not convinced that Yasuko has achieved anything. "Was that all that you've got to offer?" she questioned the field. "Because I don't think that is everything you've got."

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "And why do you care about this hidden power that I have?" The cynical girl was getting onto the topic of what Arielle was referring to. If she can guess the hidden power that she has, it had to be something related to the Extra Deck methods.

"Because the deck is at your best, but it is never complete without embracing the hidden power that you have," said Arielle. "I know this for the fact that everyone has learned to use the powers of Synchro, Fusion, and Xyz Summons, and I believe that you too possess this power, but you're holding yourself back from seeing your true potential."

Yasuko was getting tired of someone lecturing on to her in her matches. It was annoying in her taste. "I don't need to make some Synchro, Fusion or Xyz Summon to beat my opponents," said Yasuko. "I've met tons of people who can do all those Extra Deck stuff, and in the end, most of them always lose without me going into the Extra Deck."

Arielle furrows her eyebrows. "So, you admit that you can do at least one of them, but you refuse to do them, even to me," she confirmed. "Why? Why must you be locking yourself from using even one Extra Deck monster that is your ticket to victory."

"I don't need to answer to someone like you," Yasuko snapped.

Arielle makes an exhausting sigh over Yasuko's stubbornness. "Very well then, if you refuse to even use one monster from the Extra Deck, then I shall end this duel right now," she vowed. "My turn!" Arielle draws a card. "I activate Spectralsword's special effect!"

Throwing her hand over to the field, Arielle makes her move. "I banish my Spectalsword and my Shogunsaga to Special Summon one Zombie Synchro monster from the Extra Deck whose Level is equal to the monsters' that I banished!" The ghost samurai and the shogunsaga monster appears before Arielle. Unlike the tornado, there was purple fire erupting from the ground and consumes the two monsters to Special Summon **Shiranui Sunsaga (ATK 3500/DEF 0)**. "I banish Spectralsword and my Shogunsaga to Special Summon Shiranui Sunsaga!" The fire disappears with a new samurai warrior monster who is on a white ghost horse with a red flaming mane holding one spectral katana sword in his palm.

"Shiranui Sunsaga's special effect activates!" Arielle declared. "When this monster is Special Summoned, I can return any number of Zombie Synchro monsters that are in the graveyard or banished and destroy cards that my opponent controls equal to the number of cards that I returned." She lists down the monsters that are **Shiranui Samuraisaga** and **Shiranui Shogunsaga**. "I return Samuraisaga and Shogunsaga to destroys Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon and White Night Dragon!" The ghost samurai rider makes one slash that sends a slashing motion beam across the field to vaporize the ice dragon and the advance dragon.

Arielle suddenly disappears from Yasuko's view. "Yasuko, if you cannot sync your heart and mind into one, then it will be the downfall in this match," said Arielle, sound off from somewhere close by.

The girl starts to realize that Arielle is more familiar with the field than her and knows her ways around the obstacles. "Damn it, I hate it when she does that," she murmured.

Yasuko makes a run into the auburn bush to find herself more Action Cards before Arielle does. The further she ventures into the autumn forest, the harder it is for the girl to find Action Cards. The entire area is laced with thick fog around the trees. Yasuko looks around her opponent, but there was no sign of Arielle or the ghost samurai horseman.

"I activate the Action Spell: Attack and Defense Exchange!"

Yasuko turns to the Arielle shouting off from the middle of a clearing with the Action Spell Card: **Attack and Defense Exchange**. "This card switches one monster's ATK and DEF points!" She points at the biohazard dragon. "I switch your Pandemic Dragon's ATK points!" The attack power from the biohazard dragon decreased to be its defense power.

 **(Pandemic Dragon: ATK 2500/DEF 1000** → **ATK 1000/DEF 2500)**

"Oh shit," Yasuko cursed.

"Battle!" Arielle declared. "Shiranui Sunsaga, attack Pandemic Dragon!" The ghost samurai horseman charges forward with his sword ready. The horse gallops fast as the leaves underneath the hoofs fly up with every step it takes. The horseman swings his sword over and slashes the biohazard dragon before the monster explodes, knocking Yasuko off her feet. She shouted as her body hurdles her over to a nearby cliff. Her feet were stopping the moment, dragging Yasuko until her body gives a heavy lurch where the girl was hanging by the cliffside.

"Yasuko!" Zuzu gasped, calling out to her.

"Oh no!" The three kids inhaled together, shocked that Yasuko was hanging onto the cliffside with only her life points hanging on for a moment.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3500** → **1000)**

Yasuko is hanging, making herself start dragging back up with her fingernails digging into the dirt and leaves to pull herself back up. On her knees, Yasuko pants from exhaustion. The situation is now turning grim. Her life points are running very low, and she doesn't have any a lot of cards left on the field, but there was something that she can do to slow down her opponent.

"Pandemic Dragon's special effect activates," said Yasuko. "When the monster is destroyed, all other face-up monsters lose 1000 ATK points!" The mirage of the biohazard dragon reappears before spreading green acid all over the field, effectively burning off some leaves and tree barks around Arielle and her monster.

 **(Shiranui Sunsaga: ATK 3500** → **2500)**

"I end my turn," Arielle concluded.

 **Turn 6: Yasuko (1x card)**

Yasuko slowly gets back up and steps forward to make sure that she doesn't make a mistake of stepping near the cliffside. Her breath can be seen from the mist that was surrounding her. "It's my turn," said Yasuko. "I draw…" She draws a card from her deck. The only cards that Yasuko has drawn are the **Pot of Desires** Spell Card and the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Concentrating Current**.

The You-Show audience is getting worried Yasuko has drawn a card, and that maybe it for the girl.

"Oh no," said Allie. "This is bad."

"She's got to think of something fast," Tate replied.

Her eyes looked down at the hand with hate. She is starting to have the hardest time in her life. She can feel her right-hand trembling now. The sound of the crowd cheering on is making her focus go haywire. Its making Yasuko tighten her jaws in anger. " _This is friggin' stupid!"_ Her mind is racing so fast that she cannot think straight. " _Damn it, Mom, you shouldn't have sent to this goddamn place! I never wanted to duel in front of this so many people!"_

The look on her angry face is attracting the attention of the You-Show students. Most kids were wondering why Yasuko has the furious emotion coming out of her eyes. The way Yasuko is feeling must be frightening the little kids.

"I don't like that look on her face," said Allie, startled. "It's kinda scaring me."

"Me too," Zuzu added, also frightened by the angry scowl on Yasuko's face.

"What's going on?" Tate inquired. "Why isn't Yasuko using her Extra Deck?" He wasn't the only one who is wondering about Yasuko's methods to duel. Mainly, everyone in the You-Show was starting to wonder why Yasuko isn't going to uses her Extra Deck. She was able to do Pendulum, Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon in her duel with Yuya, and yet, she didn't use any of her Extra Deck over the past five days.

"Now that you've mentioned it," said Sora. "I didn't even see her do Synchro or Pendulum."

Yuya glances at the boy before gazing back at the girl with a worried expression. "Yasuko…" he muttered.

Yasuko can feel her fingernails digging into the skin of her palm. She looks at the arena and it was clear that the audiences behind the hologram were all screaming their mouths out to the star duelist of the school.

"Why are you screaming?" Arielle suddenly called.

Yasuko looks up and spots the girl in front of her with her monster. "I'm telling you the truth," she proclaimed. "You need to synch your reflexes and thought to be one." Her eyes are shunning Yasuko and her monster. "I can feel something different in that deck of yours, and if I'm guessing correctly, you are harboring such strength that even surpasses mine."

Arielle turns her eyes away and stares at the fog. "You feel lost, and you are refusing to use something precious."

The more Arielle talks about her, the angrier Yasuko gets. "Shut up!" she snapped. "You don't know anything about me!"

Arielle didn't flinch from her retort and focuses back on the girl. "You're pushing your emotions further down into the abyss," she said. "You have the power that you alone possess, and you yet refuse to do one thing that can be your salvation."

"Why should I?" Yasuko snapped. "All I will get is people to keep on asking me to do something more." Her eyes set at the ground. "They're just too stupid enough to understand that not everybody wants to be in the spotlight! And that is the one thing I hate!" Yasuko looks back up at the mystic fighter duelist. "I _HATE_ HOW PEOPLE EXPECTS ME TO DO SOMETHING THAN WHAT I'M GOOG AT!"

From the moment she said her words, Yuya's head chimes like a bell ringing to his ears. He now understands something that is bothering Yasuko. At first, he thought that it may be some sort of stage fright or doesn't like being in front of large crowds but hearing Yasuko's words out loud became vividly clear to him. It wasn't because of showing in front of the crowd; it was the pressure to listen to the demand from him and everyone watching her duel to meet their expectancy.

Because of how gifted Yasuko is with her talents and how the audience reacts to her duel, she feels more stressed to do the impossible beyond her limits. Yuya finally understands why Yasuko isn't using her Extra Deck in front of the big audience. Her talent would only attract unwanted attention that would make her feel more stressful.

And then, there was something else that came to his mind. He recalled how Diana said that she and the former duel club that she used to go had a fallout. " _So, that's why Yasuko never used her Extra Deck in all those matches,"_ he thought. By looking at the crowd around him and the You-Show people, it felt like it was his fault for making Yasuko do something that she doesn't want to do. Yuya's heart starts to maim in response. Surely, Yasuko may have learned to openly use her Extra Deck cards in nonpublic spaces, but to see her not using her Extra Deck in front of a lot of public is a feeling that needs to be assisted by someone.

"People expect of me to be something better than what I'm good at," Yasuko explained. "Come on, I wasn't going into the Arc League for the fun and the fame, I just want to get back at someone, and I wasn't going to waste that chance. And once that was done, I'm through. I don't want any part in this whole pro-duelist crap because people would always put their trust in you until you're used up and throw away like a cloth. That's what I think of the duel schools here." Her narrowed eyes frown on the girl. "Everybody is the same! They expect you to do something more and then when you are at your limit, they just dump you away!" Yasuko retorted.

"Is that what you think?" Arielle inquired, appalled. "You think duel schools are a waste of time? I call it BS! Duel schools are built not for the sole purpose of dueling in competitions but for a way to express trust to anyone with similar interest."

"Trust?" Yasuko repeated. "Who is there to trust? They expect me to do something higher than what I'm good at. And if I lose my way to the Arc League, they'll just dump on me like how my dueling club members did to me."

Yuya then suddenly had another realization. By looking at the crowd around him and the You-Show people, it felt like it was his fault for making Yasuko do something that she doesn't want to do. Yuya's heart starts to maim in response. " _Now, I see…"_ he pondered. " _She never uses the Extra Deck because we were expecting her to do more."_

Yuya didn't know how Yasuko was thinking if he and the rest of the You-Show duel school would ridicule her if she ever does something appalling to them. He thought of how Diana said that she quit the dueling club. Yasuko trusted her dueling club members to watch her back during the Frontier Games, but after she didn't get in, they scorn her for losing and that is why she quit. She only trusts people who can accept her for who she is.

Yasuko makes her move and activates the Spell Card. "I activate the Pot of Desires Spell!" she exclaimed. "This card lets me banish the top ten cards from my deck to draw two cards!" She banishes the top ten cards from her deck and draws two more. She finds herself infuriated when she drew **White Dragon Wyverbuster** , and her Tuner monster: **Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson**. " _Out of the cards that I have to draw, why does it have to be these two of all times?"_ she thought.

As Yasuko was lost in her frustration, someone called to her name. "Yasuko!" The girl turns her attention toward the stands. She spots Yuya standing on top of the seat with both hands to his mouth calling out to her.

"Yasuko!" Yuya called again.

"Not now!" Yasuko responded, giving a slightly irritated tone.

"Listen, I know why you don't use them! I know why you never used your Extra Deck!" Yuya exclaimed. "I know why you quit your dueling club! You think you're expecting us to do want something even better, but you don't have to believe in that! You are not alone! I know it must be hard for you! Everything! The stress! The people! You didn't want to do anything with that!" Yuya is going to make sure that Yasuko can come through to her senses. "Yasuko! I know what it feels like to be stressed and be forced to meet everyone's expectations! But Yasuko, what I want to say is you don't have to worry about any of that in You-Show! No matter what happens after this, even if you don't win this match, you're still a friend and student of the You-Show Duel School, my dad's duel school! I trust you completely, Yasuko Yukihana! I trust you because you are my friend!"

Yasuko makes a small gasp. She is sure that her heart may have skipped a beat after Yuya proclaims his words. The rest of the spectators and the You-Show students around him were confused. Soon, Zuzu starts to understand what Yuya was trying to say and comes to join him.

"Yasuko!" Zuzu called. "We are the You-Show Duel School, and everyone at the You-Show supports each other! We are like a family! No matter what happens after this match, we will still accept you!" Saying those words makes Zuzu feel a lot more than just relieve; she was supportive.

And then, three little kids join with their older members.

"That's right!" Tate called. "We will always be here for you!"

"Yeah!" Allie rooted. "We are here for you, Yasuko!"

"Even if you're aren't nice at most time," Frederick added. "We accept you, Yasuko!"

Sora gives a nod. "I guess I could say that I am in for you, Yasuko," he responded. "So, no matter what, just give it your all!" He makes a thumps-up for the girl.

Yasuko is completely taken back by the You-Show students. She cannot tell what she is feeling right now. It felt like her spirit was lifted from the depths of the abyss and transcended into the sky.

She closes her eyes and lets the words from Yuya sink deeper into her body. " _That's right,"_ Yasuko thought _. "I wasn't sure of who to trust because I trusted someone from the Frontier Games…"_

Her brain reminisces to the memories of when she and Melania teamed up in the Frontier Games. She thought that she can trust Melania to watch her back as she covers her during the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games. In the last half hour, Yasuko was deceived and lost to Melania who was only using her to get herself in the main tournament. After losing her way inside to the tournament, Yasuko can remember the scolds her club members give her after she lost.

That's why she quit in the first place. The dueling club wanted Yasuko to take her place in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games so that they can get more members, but she lost because she made a partnership with her enemy. Yasuko vowed to stay away from competitions and only duels solo, promising to never make the same mistake again until she started getting involved with competitions again after moving into Maiami City.

However, unlike the duel club, the You-Show are different. They may always and will be coming back to her no matter how many times she scolded them, mostly at Yuya. Somewhere inside, there was a blissful feeling that soothes her body to be more peace. She can think a lot clearer. Her heart rate is slowing down, and her mind is calming. Yasuko felt like she is in a state of relaxation. Her nerves are now straight. Her head becomes more open. It is the feeling that she longed for. The hand that trembles all the time during her duel in big crowds have ceased.

"You say that reflexes and thought must be one," Yasuko proclaimed. "Now I see what Ayala meant when she said that both reflexes and thought must create a peaceful synthesis between each other." Her eyes scan the cards that are in her hand. "And now that I still have a chance, that would mean I have to beat you!"

Arielle was surprised by Yasuko's quick recovery. She thought at first Yasuko was about to break, but then the girl regained her true composure. Arielle can see the calm demeanor that Yasuko is displaying. Arielle is somehow glad. Her graceful smile shows how satisfied she is.

"I see that you have found your inner peace," Arielle said gracefully. "Here, in the Mystic Fighter, those who have achieved their inner peace are gratefully accepted in the institute." She makes a small bow to Yasuko before getting back up. "You may have achieved stability inside your mind, Yukihana, but how are you going to beat me with no cards on the field?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes at her opponent. "I just have to think outside the box, that's how," she answered. "I activate White Dragon Wyverbuster's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "By banishing a DARK monster from my graveyard, I can Special Summon this monster from my hand!" She activates the effect of her monster by banishing her **Schwarzschild Limit Dragon** to Special Summon **White Dragon Wyverburster (ATK 1800/DEF 700)**. "I banish my Schwarzschild Limit Dragon to Special Summon White Dragon Wyverburster!"

From the field, a portal opens to let out a blue dragon with silver armor and a crystal orb at the center of its chest with red eyes beating out and an orange glowing outline from the center.

"Now, I activate Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frission's special effect!" Yasuko added. "When this monster is in my hand or graveyard, I can pay half of my life points and target one level 6 or below monster that I control, and Special Summon it with its level reduced by the monster that I targeted!"

Yasuko throws her hand over to the wyverburster dragon. "I target my White Dragon Wyverburster to reduce Destrudo's level by 4 to Special Summon the Tuner monster; Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson!" By paying half of her life points and reducing the level of her dragon, Yasuko was able to Special Summon **Destrudo** , **the Lost Dragon's Frisson (ATK 1000/DEF 3000)**. From the portal, the grotesques dragon with half bones and muscle meat shows up on the field with its level reduced because of its effect.

 **(Destrudo** , **the Lost Dragon's Frisson: Level 7** → **3)**

Zuzu and Allie got purple pale from the moment they saw Yasuko's tuner monster. "Oh…that is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen; I think I'm gonna be sick," said Zuzu, holding her mouth to prevent her from vomiting.

"It's creeping me out," Allie added.

The two boys, on the other hand, are very amazed that the girl was able to summon a tuner monster.

"Alright!" Tate cheered. "She brought out her Tuner monster!"

Despite seeing the appearance of a tuner monster, Yuya is worried that the girl paid a high price for her monster to appear. "But she paid half of her life points," he stated. Statics spark around the girl at the cost of half of what remains for her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1000** → **500)**

Arielle raises an eyebrow of interest. "You would pay half of your life points to summon a Tuner monster?" she inquired. "Why put yourself at such a risk?"

Yasuko glowers at the girl. "To win this duel and get into the Arc League," she declared. "I tune my level 3 Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson with my level 4 White Dragon Wyverburster!"

The grotesque dragon transforms into three green rings. They scan the wyverburster dragon until it was left with nothing but its four glowing orbs. With all the orbs aligned, it shoots a light that shines over Yasuko from behind.

 **(3 + 4 = 7)**

" _Dragon of fire! Come to the earth and blast away my enemies who stand before you! I_ _ **Synchro Summon**_ _! Rage on! Level 7! Exploder Dragonwing!"_ Yasuko recited before she Synchro Summons **Exploder Dragonwing (ATK 2400/DEF 1800)**. The dark back-deformed violet-red dragon with red-orange wings and flappy scales, and forearms and calves that are two times bigger than the limbs with sharp claws and orange tail appears from the light and right behind Yasuko. It roars after being sealed for so long.

The audience goes wild after seeing Yasuko do a Synchro Summon, the same summoning method as Arielle. The You-Show are happy to see Yasuko being able to do a Synchro Summon in front of a large crowd.

"Alright!" Yuya cheered.

"There is it!" Allie shrieked.

"Exploder Dragonwing!" Tate added.

"I'm getting the shivers just by seeing her Synchro Summon!" Frederick makes a quaver.

Sora closes his eyes to feel proud that Yasuko has finally Synchro Summon after seeing her delaying her talent.

"You may have brought out the true strength of your deck, but you have still yet to beat me because I have all the cards on the table," said Arielle.

"You sure about that?" Yasuko questioned which cause the senior girl to gasp. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell: Concentrating Current!" She raises her voice to make a clear statement of the card. "This card gives one monster that I control ATK points equal to its DEF points!"

"What?!" Arielle gasped.

Yasuko points at the deformed dragon. "I give my Exploder Dragonwing!" The spell card showers over the deformed dragon with bolts of lightning to charge up the monster in exceeding its ATK points.

 **(Exploder Dragonwing: ATK 2400** → **4000)**

"No way!" Arielle gasped.

The You Show is now getting more excited after Yasuko Synchro Summoned followed by a major power boost to her monster.

"Alright, this is what I'm talking about!" Tate cheered. "Now that Yasuko's monster is stronger than Arielle's, she can get even with her!"

"And because Exploder Dragonwing has more ATK points, then that means we all know what's coming!" Frederick explained.

"Go, Yasuko!" Allie applauded.

"Battle! Exploder Dragonwing, attack Shiranui Sunsaga!" The deformed dragon opens its jaws and fires off a red laser beam to vaporize the ghost samurai horseman.

"I activate Shiranui Sunsaga's special effect!" Arielle declared. "If a Zombie monster were ever be destroyed in battle or card effect, I can banish one Zombie monster from the graveyard instead!" Arielle chooses to banish her **Shiranui Solitaire**. "I banish my Solitaire so that Shiranui Sunsaga doesn't get destroyed this turn!" The monster still stands with a force field to prevent itself from being destroyed, but it has effectively dealt with more damage to Arielle.

 **(Arielle: LP 3000** → **1500)**

"Like that's going to stop me!" Yasuko shouted. All of a sudden, she turns around to start running over toward the cliff, much to everyone's shock.

"Where is she going!?" Tate exclaimed.

"There's nothing over there!" Frederick panicked.

Yasuko takes a big leap over the cliff and starts to fall, but then, the deformed dragon comes below to allow Yasuko to hop off its back as a boost to get to the other side of the foggy mist. Her body disappears behind the thick layers of fog. For a few moments, Yasuko was gone into the fog until something shining pops out from the mist.

Yasuko's body starts to become more visible as the glow shines bright enough to evaporate the fog around her with the Action Spell Card: **Wonder Chance**. "I activate the Action Spell, Wonder Chance!" Yasuko exclaimed. "This card gives my monster an additional attack this turn!" She throws her hand over to the deformed dragon who starts floating at the center of the large gap with the river streaming below. The fog clears up to reveal Yasuko standing on the other side of a riverbank cliff.

"Exploder Dragonwing attack Shiranui Sunsaga one more time!" Yasuko yelled. "Now, Exploder Dragonwing's special effect activates!" When this monster destroys your monster in battle, you take damage equal to its ATK points!"

The You-Show are cheering her on to keep pressing with the attack.

"Go, Yasuko!" Yuya, Zuzu, and Sora said altogether.

"You got this!" Tate and Allie exclaimed proudly.

"Shivers!" Frederick squealed.

Arielle gasped as the deformed dragon fires off a second beam right at Arielle. She takes the hit directly and flinches once. Arielle is entirely shaken. She can't believe how the girl achieves her thoughts together and manages to break through her barrier. She lets out a smile and waits for the beam to hit her monsters and all of her life points with a big—

 _KA-BOOOOMMMMM!_

 **(Arielle: LP 1500** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The audience went wilder after seeing the duel with everyone cheering on for the girl who beat one of the school's top duelist. The Action field disperses and returns to its original state. Even the girls from Mystic Fighters are all applauding for Yasuko.

The girl removes her bangs that are in her eyes. Sweat runs down on the back of her shirt and forehead. She sighs in exhaustion. She is feeling the need for a cold shower. Yasuko spots Arielle approaching her.

"Yasuko Yukihana," said Arielle, staring down at the girl. "You show a lot of potential in there."

Yasuko raised an eyebrow. "And you aren't disappointed?"

Arielle shakes her head. "I am not above thinking about who my opponent is as long as they are truly one with their mind and heart, and you, on the other hand, have finally become one in your mind and your heart."

Yasuko averts her gaze. "I guess you mean to say…I've achieved inner peace," she said. "Just need something to knock my senses."

Arielle smiles wider. "Then I wish you luck for the upcoming Arc League Championship, Yukihana." And with that, she bows her head in respect as Yasuko did the same thing before the two females part ways.

On her way to the stands, Yasuko gets tackled by the three kids, but she is still standing.

"Way a go, Yasuko!" Tate beamed. "You've got your fifth win!"

"Only one more to go, and we'll all going to be in!" Allie smiled.

"You were amazing in there, I was getting the shivers in my goosebumps," said Fredrick.

Yasuko pushes the boys away lightly and pats Allie on her head. "I'm…glad that you enjoyed it?" she said, unsure.

The rest of the gang comes over to the girl.

"You did it though," said Yuya. "Now you need only one more and you're gonna be in."

Zuzu nodded. "And don't worry about us though," she assured. "Even though you don't like to listen to the cheers, we'll all be there for you."

Yasuko's blue eyes stare up to Zuzu's. "Uh…thanks for that," she responded. "But I must get going." She pushes Allie aside to collect her gym bag.

"Already?" Sora inquired. "But your fifth match was today, and we should celebrate in the honor of your victory."

Yasuko makes a cringe. "Don't. Not yet." She adjusts her bag and begins to walk out. "See ya alligators." Before she could exit out of the arena, the girl stops to glance at Yuya. "Oh, and Yuya…" she called to which got his attention.

"Yeah?" Yuya asked.

For a moment, Yasuko and Yuya stared at each other for the longest time. They're not moving away to gaze. There is something that Yuya wanted to tell her what he was thinking, to see her reaction. For Yasuko, she is still working over how Yuya accepts her. She shakes her mouth uncomfortably; thinking he might reach _there_ if she is going to stare at his red eyes when he's already got the gaze from Zuzu.

"Thanks…for uh…knocking my senses…" Yasuko said awkwardly. "But do me a favor though."

"And what's that?" Yuya beamed.

"Never make a speech like that when I'm dueling," Yasuko said flatly. She turns her body forward. "I'll see you tomorrow." And with that the girl walks out, leaving the You-Show behind.

Sora has his arms behind his head. "What's up with her?" he asked. "Isn't she supposed to be—oh I don't know— happy and stuff like that? Doesn't she know that if she wins her next match tomorrow, then she is in?"

Yuya faces Sora. "Yep, but you know Yasuko…" He turns his gaze back at the girl's back. "She likes to keep things to herself."

* * *

The sun wasn't gone yet. The orange color sky spreads all over Maiami City after Yasuko earned her fifth victory against Arielle.

The girl is getting close to being in the Arc League Championship. With just one more win around the corner, it will be enough to get her inside. All she has to do is win the next one tomorrow, and she'll be in the Arc League Championship. Somehow, the peaceful feeling never left her. It's been attached to her like staples. Maybe that's what she needs. Yasuko felt that the final match tomorrow will be ease once she makes it past the sixth mark.

The girl exits out of the bus. Her shadow looms over the walkway to Diana's house.

She enters the door and calls to her caretaker. "Diana, I'm home." As Yasuko takes off her shoes, she notices that there was a pair of magenta heels and black shoes at the side. Her raised eyebrow gives her curiosity. Does Diana have guests today? Did she know some people were coming without telling her?

"Yasuko?" Diana called from the kitchen. "Is that you?"

Yasuko turns toward the kitchen. "Yeah, it's me," she responded.

"Could you come in here for a second," Diana requested. "There are some people who would want to see you."

The request only further enhances her confusion. To think there would be someone who in the city would like an audience with her. She puts down her gym bag and heads for the kitchen. She can see Diana looking back at her from the seat.

She smiles at the girl. "Yasuko, I hope you don't mind, but these people would love to talk with you."

"Oh?" Yasuko inquired. "And who would they—" Yasuko suddenly stops right in her sentence when she saw two people at the end of the table. It is as if her life was being sucked out of her body. Her skin pales at the sight of one of the two people she hopes she didn't have to see.

It was Henrietta Akaba and Claude.

* * *

 **Hey readers, I did plan to post this earlier, but things got caught up and I have something to take care of. Anyways, I hoped that you've all enjoyed your holidays, so one more to go, and we'll be coming in the next Arc. I hoped you are all excited. I will be taking the time to review these duels and see it through that it will work out just fine.**

 **Anyways, thank you, readers, for taking the time to read this through. I'll post this sometime next year. Don't forget to give some feedback on what you have thought and what needs to be improved. I will bring it all that I've got. See ya, and a Happy New Years!**


	29. Chapter 29: Prodigy of the Leo Institute

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards, I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Chapter 29: Prodigy of the Leo Institute; Yasuko Yukihana vs Satsuki Guenin_

* * *

Yasuko Yukihana has no words to say to Henrietta Akaba who is currently sitting on the kitchen table. It wasn't a coincidence to see the headmistress of the Leo Institute and the subdivision of the Leo Corporation in Yasuko's house having a cup of tea. The last time Yasuko saw Henrietta was about a month ago after the Yuya Incident. She thought that it would be the last time that she ever saw Henrietta, but she guessed not.

Yasuko blinks once to grasp the image of Henrietta being in her house. "And you are…?" She pretends to be curious in front of Diana. She didn't tell her that she met Henrietta Akaba from the duel between the You-Show and the Leo Institute. She figures that it is best to keep it a secret.

"Henrietta," the woman with magenta hair addressed. "Henrietta Akaba, the headmistress of the Leo Institute of Dueling."

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly. "Headmistress, huh?" She moves her head slightly to the right with suspicions leaking from her eyes. "I wasn't aware that the principal of the Leo Institute would be coming here on short notice." She turns to Diana. "Uh, why is she here again?" Yasuko asked her caretaker.

"Henrietta came because she wanted to talk to you about your final exhibition match," Diana explained. "I suppose this must be for the Arc League business, right?"

Henrietta nodded. "Why of course," she agreed. "Who would've thought that one of the contenders for the Arc League Championship would be a former player from the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games."

Diana nodded and excuses herself to let Yasuko and Henrietta be to discuss what they are going to talk about.

Yasuko is sure that the woman did some research, and the woman finally got some information about her past. The young girl keeps herself from lashing out against the woman and maintains her feelings to see what motives are behind her would-be adversary.

Yasuko's blue eyes stare at the woman's professional gaze. "Uh, the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games? I never _actually_ got in; in fact, I didn't earn a place there," she said, straining her voice.

"Regardless whether you got in or not, it's a very special occasion," Henrietta stated. Her eyes gaze at Yasuko from the top of her forest green hair to the black socks at her feet. "A veteran player from the Games to come here and join the Arc League is astonishing," said Henrietta. "I couldn't help but see who it is."

Yasuko furrows an eyebrow. "May I ask why are you here again?" she questioned.

"To talk," Henrietta answered. "I wish to talk with you, Yasuko Yukihana."

In her mind, the girl was thinking of the woman and her intentions. Yasuko comes to know that Henrietta isn't the type of person who would come to a stranger's house and wish to talk to her without giving a good reason. After her brief moment with Henrietta, Yasuko comes to the terms that the Akabas are not the people she can triumph due to their sphere of influence and the amount of money they have in their possession. She needs to keep cool and wait to see any weakness she can exploit.

Yasuko takes a seat across from Henrietta, arms folded in front of her on the table. "So, what is there to talk about?" she asked, leaning forward to the woman.

"About you, of course," Henrietta responded. "Tell me, how many wins have you earned so far?"

"Five officially consecutive wins," Yasuko answered.

"Five wins, you say?" Henrietta closes her eyes and snorts in amusement. "That's outstanding," she praised. "It takes only six officially consecutive wins to qualify for the Arc League Championship, and yet no duelists has ever come this close to a six-win streak in a week." Henrietta opens her eyes and stares at the cynical girl. "Of course, that doesn't seem strange to you."

Yasuko leans back to straighten her back. She is cautious of who she is dealing with and that includes the Akaba family. The girl kept her stern gaze at Henrietta, watching her like an eagle for any signs that could give away something.

"I'm not in for the fame and the glory," Yasuko replied flatly. "I'm in to settle an old score with someone."

Henrietta raises an eyebrow with interest. "Oh, a score to settle?" she inquired. "My, that's a real ambition right there."

Yasuko takes a brief glance over to Claude. He is like a military guard with both hands behind his back. She cannot tell if he's looking at her or somewhere else because he had sunglasses on.

"I have a proposition for you," Henrietta announced.

Yasuko's eyes turn back to the woman with curiosity. "A proposition?" she inquired. "What kind of proposition?"

Henrietta takes a cup of tea from the plate to sip it. "Yes, about your tomorrow's match," she said. "You see, there's been a slight change in our duel schedule among the duelists who are nearing the deadline, and we all have to make arrangements to make sure everyone has what they need," she informed. "So, I was thinking… if you would like to come to the Leo Institute tomorrow and be a final challenger." Henrietta settles her teacup down as she eyes over to Yasuko. "I hear that your final match is tomorrow, is it right?" she inquired.

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly. "Woman, I don't like anyone tampering with my business," she primed, feeling a drop of angry crashing into her bloodstream.

"Why are you assuming I have anything to do with it? I have nothing to bargain," Henrietta confessed. "My business involves more important priorities than just a silly little match."

Yasuko reaffirms her gaze to be neutral, unsure if Henrietta is making an excuse to cover her tracks. "So, you want me to duel one of your own students tomorrow as a final match?"

"Of course," Henrietta agreed. "I've been thinking…since you know how to do…You know what," she whispered quietly to let Yasuko know of her little secret; her Pendulum Summon. "Why not you come over to the Leo Institute tomorrow for _your_ final match? No business. No tricks. Nothing funny. Just you, and the full power of your deck."

"Why should I?" Yasuko asked, frowning at the woman.

Henrietta's professional smile didn't even waver as she leans closer to the girl to divulge something that is a secret until it is public. "What if I tell you that we have achieved the secrets of creating our own Pendulum cards?"

Yasuko has a flabbergasting feeling coming from her chest. The woman seems to know regarding the Pendulum cards. "What? You already finished them?" Yasuko inquired.

Henrietta makes a small approval sound. "It was a lot of hard work, time, and money, but we finally got it," she informed. "The Leo Corporation's first wave of Pendulum cards are now one hundred percent ready to roll at the Arc League Championship. And just as we were able to create the Pendulum cards, we happened to detect something else. About a few weeks ago, we spotted a different summon that is related to Pendulum Summon. You wouldn't happen to be involved in it, would you?"

Yasuko can assume that the summon is probably her Extra Deck method by using her own Pendulum cards. The only thing she ever recalls using her Pendulum to the Extra Deck method is when she was dueling with Yuya. She didn't expect the Leo Corporation to have some kind of high-tech surveillance network that detects even the slightest use of Extra Deck.

Yasuko pretends to shake her head in obliviousness. "No, not really," she stated.

The more they talk; the sooner Yasuko grasps to what has happened. Her last duel with Yuya attracted the people from the Leo Corporation, and they get her next duel to be at the Leo Institute stadium. Henrietta had to do something with her matchup, or maybe it is Declan that got her involved. Yasuko became their target, but for what purpose is unclear.

"So, my match will be at Leo Institute then?" Yasuko inquired, preventing herself from straining her throat. At first, Yasuko want to decline on the offer because it is obvious that it is what Henrietta or Declan wanted; but Melania is her utmost top priority, so she cannot back down, and she always wonder just how good the Leo Institute students are compared to the three tier-one duelists she encountered at the You-Show. She even wonders if there are any duelists like Declan who can wield three Extra Deck summons. After brief thinking, Yasuko comes to her decision. "I shall be there," she answered

Henrietta makes a delightful smile that shows how satisfied she is with Yasuko's decision. "Then it's decided," Henrietta confirmed. "The match is at 3 o'clock tomorrow sharp." Henrietta stands up from her seat and walks out of the kitchen area but stops to take one now glance at Yasuko. "As a former duelist of the Frontier Games, I look forward to seeing you duel to the big leagues, Yasuko Yukihana." And with that, the woman and her bodyguard make their way out of the door.

The frown on Yasuko's face never left. Her eyes are dead set at the woman who may have fiddled her dueling schedule and is covering it up. What more can she do? None. The only way that she is going to find out is at the Leo Institute tomorrow.

* * *

Yasuko needs to prepare herself for the final match and something tells that her opponent isn't going to be easy. She won't be using her Pendulum cards, and she doesn't want to use Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon just yet; in fact, she wasn't planning on using the Pendulum Cards until the Arc League Championship. The deadline is today at midnight, and it is the one chance that she is going to get to reach Melania Herman.

Curiously enough to be thinking about her final match, Yuya makes a sudden call to ask her to help out with the Extra Deck duel practice at the You-Show Duel School.

Riding the bus to the You-Show, she watches the window of rolling buildings until the bus stops at the station. She gets off and waits for the bus to move aside as she walks to the You-Show Duel School. "I just hope that this guy didn't have to duel me right at this very moment." She digs her hands in her black vest jacket pocket and comes up to the front entrance of the duel school.

Somehow, the school looks strangely quiet. There was no one at the front entrance or anywhere at the moment.

Yasuko heads over to the lounging area where there should be a refrigerator. The girl finds the door and opens it—

 _POP! POP! POP! POP!_

"SURPRISE!" Everyone at the You-Show Duel School yelled altogether loudly with all their energy bursting out from their mouths.

Yasuko was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the entire You-Show people and the loud popping noise from the poppers. She looks on around the room to see how it is different than the one from before.

There are decorations everywhere. Banners. Balloons. Food. Ribbons. Steamers. The top of the food table has a banner that said, 'Good Luck, Yasuko Yukihana.' The girl is baffling at the strange celebration when her match is about to start in an hour. Yasuko turns to the three kids and the two teenagers. "Uh…what is all of this?" she inquired.

"It's a surprise party," said Yuya. "We were hoping to give you a good luck party for your final match."

Yasuko looks back at the banner. "You guys…give me a party?" she asked.

Zuzu nodded and makes a smile. "Yep, because of your final match coming, I was hoping we could all get together to celebrate."

Yasuko turns to Zuzu. "But I haven't won my final match yet," she pointed out.

Zuzu gestures to her childhood friend. "It was all Yuya's idea," she proclaimed.

Yasuko turns back to Yuya. "You… you did all of this…for me?" she asked, pointing herself.

Yuya nodded. "Mmhmm, I want to make this day special for you, and since you have your five matches, I know that you are going to do your best," Yuya replied with a very pleased smile.

Yasuko makes her way to the food table and grabs herself a dumpling to chew on. It felt strange that some people from her duel school to be giving her a revelry. She normally lets her day be going and never look back, but the You-Show people are all doing their best to make her happy. She can't even recall anything about having her own party. She didn't even have a birthday party before. "No one's ever given me a party before," she stated.

"Really?" Zuzu asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

"It's usually mom or my grandparents who make me birthday parties back home, but I don't invite a lot of people," Yasuko answered. "But still…" She glances over her shoulder to look at Yuya and everyone else in You-Show. "Thank you, Yuya Sakaki."

Yuya's mouth curves up to a beam. "Sure," he said.

Frederick had his mouth stuffed with candy and chocolate sweets. "We should all celebrate while we still have the chance," he said. "The Arc League Championship is tomorrow, and we cannot wait!"

Allie grabs a dumpling and eats it. "Yasuko, you are now the only duelist in the You-Show who's ever come this close to the deadline," she informed. "So, we all want to root for you until the end."

Tate, who was eating a plate of rice and mixed eggrolls, nodded. "We'll all be there in the Arc League," he talked with half of his mouth full. He swallows it before speaking clearly, "Yasuko, when is your final match?"

"At 3," Yasuko answered as she grabs an onigiri. "As much as I appreciate what you guys are doing for me, I still have to get going." She grabs a couple of sandwiches bags and packs up some rice balls, onigiri, and gyozas. "It's too early to celebrate."

Sora raises an eyebrow as he stops eating the cupcake in his mouth. "What? Already?" he asked.

"But we just got the food for ya," Shuzo whined, sagging his shoulder. "And Sora just ordered a cake."

"I will eat them when I won, but for now, I have to make sure that I am prepared for the final match," Yasuko assured. "I don't want to puke when I'm moving with all of this food in my way."

Yuya smiles and raises his fist. "Alright then, first is your match, and then second is a celebration!" he cheered. "So, where's your final match?"

Yasuko looks halfway away from Yuya, grimacing at the thought of her final match. "You're not gonna like it," she said. She can see Yuya blinking in confusion oblivious to where the location of the final match.

* * *

Out of all the duel schools that Yasuko could have for the final challenge, it had to be the Leo Institute of Dueling. The towering structure of the LDS sign from the Leo Institute draws the sight of everyone who walks past it.

Yasuko stands in the middle with the You-Show people surrounding her. Their heads are looking upwards to the hourglass tower.

"I don't like it," Yuya admitted.

"I told ya," Yasuko replied.

"So then…your final duel…" Zuzu began.

"Is it here?" Tate questioned.

"Why do I have a feeling this is not going to end well?" Allie questioned.

"Because it won't," said Frederick, shivering in his back.

"Well, this is going to end badly," Sora commented, slouching his head back against arms.

Yasuko sighed, letting the annoying feeling inside to come out and ventilate everything that is making her hesitate. With one step, she walks right at the entrance. "Shall we?" she asked.

The You-Show students look at her briefly before following inside. The moment the students of the Leo Institute saw Yasuko and the others, they came to realize that the opponent for the school is here. Though the other You-Show people are trying their best to avoid their glares, the cynical girl isn't bothered by their ominous stares. She was more relaxed to let the energy of their tense atmosphere flow around her like she was shielded by a force field.

Allie felt creeped out by how many students are staring at them. "Uh, does anybody feel like we're being watched?" she whispered to the others.

"I certainly think so," said Tate, lowly. "I still can't believe that Yasuko's final match is going to be here at the Leo Institute."

Frederick had a worried look on his face. "Uh…I just hope her opponent isn't as hard as the last one."

Zuzu turns down to look at the three kids and give them a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," she assured. "If there's anything that Yasuko did in her five matches is that she can handle anything."

Many of the students were all mostly staring at them. Since it is the deadline for the Arc League Championship, it was all clear that the opponent had to be someone who is in a third-rated duel school.

As they walk, someone else was blocking their way. "Well, well, well…" The whole gang faces to the appearance of Sylvio Sawatari in front of them. As always, his blond hair bangs lean forward over his gray eyes with his light brown hair sticking back. "Who would've thought I get to finally see you again, after all this time," said Sylvio.

The three little kids give a glare as well as Zuzu while Yasuko and Yuya look at him curiously. "Oh, hey there, Silverado," Yasuko greeted.

Sylvio falls over flat to the ground in a comedian way with his body spasming in shock after Yasuko mispronounce his name as a truck. He recovers quickly and scowls at the girl. "It's Sylvio!" he clarified louder enough for Yasuko to remember. "Sylvio Sawatari! Get it!? Sylvio! Sawatari!" he emphasized his name clearly to the girl. "S.Y.L.V.I.O! Sylvio!" he spelled his name clearly.

"I never got your full name the first time," said Yasuko. "What are you doing here?"

Sylvio sweeps his blond bangs over his head. "Isn't it obvious?" he inquired. "Everyone at the Leo Institute is hosting the last dueling competition for the Arc League Championship, and I have to know who is going to be the opponent." He examines the girl from the forest green hair to the small heels of her brown ankle boots. "And who've thought that the opponent is to be you, Yasuko Yukihana," he smirked. "So, you've joined You-Show, I see?"

"Only because they're a better crowd," Yasuko replied.

"Ah…" Yasuko wasn't expecting herself to be hearing Henrietta from the background. She looks over Sylvio's shoulder to find the magenta woman walking up toward them. "Yasuko Yukihana, it's so nice to see you here again," she greeted.

The moment the You-Show party saw the woman, they instantly turn to glare at her. They still couldn't forget about the Yuya Accusation incident behind.

Henrietta focuses her eyes at Yasuko with interest. "You're here early," she said.

"I didn't want to be late," said Yasuko. "So, who is it? My opponent?"

"I'm right here," a girl's voice echoed in the hall. The rest of them turn to face a teenage girl of average height in Yasuko's who is slim build with thin eyebrows, sharp yellow-green eyes, and curly red hair. She wears a white coat and white shorts with black stockings, a brown belt tied around her waist, and dark blue shoes.

"You must be Miss Yasuko Yukihana," she addressed. "I am Satsuki Guenin, and I am the Leo Institute's representative of Integrated Studies." She places a hand on her hip. "I'm impressed to meet someone like you who manage to get in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games three years ago."

Yasuko narrows her eyes in response to her statement. Though her words didn't surprise Henrietta, Yuya and Zuzu, everyone else was all taken back by the revelation. "Eh?!" The three kids and Sylvio all gasped together.

"I'm been wanting to see how you would stack up against someone who is in the integrated studies," said Satsuki. "I've done my research, and what I find is…very interesting."

Yasuko takes a glance at the magenta woman, thinking that she may have to do something with it. "Yeah?" she dared.

"And what I've seen…is pretty much basic in my field of studies," Satsuki commented.

"Don't knock it until you try," the forest-green girl responded.

Henrietta can see the fire building up around the two duelists. "Now that all of our guests are here, shall we?" she inquired.

"Let's," Yasuko and Satsuki agreed.

The mouth on Henrietta's face curves upwards, feelings satisfied to see how the duelists are getting fired up. "Then follow me, we shall begin." And so, Henrietta and Satsuki turn around and walk forward in the hall with the students all whispering amongst themselves about the matchup.

Yasuko turns to Zuzu and hands her gym bag. "Here, hold this please."

Zuzu takes Yasuko's gym bag. "Will you be alright?" she asked anxiously. "Do you know who you're facing?"

The only response is Yasuko facing forward to the path where the two females went. "She's just another duelist who's stepping in my way. I won't lose," she said. "I know what I'm doing." The cynical girl walks off to meet her opponent at the field and disappear behind the corner.

While the You-Show duelists watch with concern, Sylvio has a more relaxed posture that tells him the outcome of the duel. "You better hoped she's prepared," he warned. "Because this might be the last duel that she will ever do."

Everyone from You-Show jerks their head toward him. "And why's that?" Zuzu inquired with an angry frown forming on her face.

Sylvio had a casual look on his face as the boy turns to make a glance over to the You-Show. "You really don't know who Satsuki Guenin is?" he inquired. Sylvio faces back to the hallways where Henrietta and Satsuki left with Yasuko following behind. "Satsuki Guenin is a Tier zero duelist in the Leo Institute who studies in the Integrated Course, one of the _hardest_ curriculums to ever train on." His eyes avoid the path that Yasuko followed in the girl. "If Yasuko is dueling her, then it could only mean trouble."

* * *

It felt like a long time since Yasuko's been to the Leo Stadium, and now here she is, facing against a duelist with unknown skills. The students of the Leo Institute were always predictable. She was wondering about her opponent. Satsuki could be in a whole different league than the other students she met from the Leo Institute. She's seen what Yabia, Julia, and Hokuto are capable of in terms of using individual Synchro, Xyz, and Fusion, but Satsuki could be different than the others.

"I hope you're ready for what's to come," said Satsuki.

"I'm always ready," Yasuko replied.

The announcer of today's match is none other than Nico Smiley as he is to be the host of the Arc League Championship tomorrow.

"Hello, and thank you for coming to today's last matchup of the day for the Arc League Championship!" He announced. "As the deadline comes today, it is my host the final exhibition match at the Leo Stadium to see who shall succeed to earn their place in the Arc League Championship!"

The crowd in front stands cheers and makes noise in response to the announcer. "And without further a due, please welcome to our two competitors for today's last duel match!" He gestures his hand to the first girl on the right. "Please give it up for this year's 5th ranking duelist in the Leo Institute! Satsuki Guenin!"

Satsuki ignores the cheers and the screams of the other Leo Institute students as her eyes are focused on Yasuko.

"And for this year's newcomer, the star duelist aspiring from the You-Show Duel School! Yasuko Yukihana!"

As the crowd roars in response, the You-Show duelists clap for their teammate.

"You go, Yasuko!" Allie waves at her.

"We're all here for you!" Tate called.

"You got this!" Frederick added.

Sora was relaxed at his seat while watching the duelist with a lollipop in his mouth while Zuzu and Yuya are looking at her with a troubled look.

"Yasuko…" Yuya whispered. "You have to win."

Nico moves his hand to the stand where a separate booth is taking place. "And now, allow me to present to you, the current chairwoman and the co-executive of the Leo Institute and the Leo Corporation, Miss Henrietta Akaba!" He makes a wail at the end of the tone to let the energy burst out of the stands.

Henrietta then approaches the booth of her seat and stare down at the adoring fans from a certain point of view. She spots Yasuko looking upwards to her. She let a smile and faces the front of the audience.

"Hello, and welcome to the end of the day exhibit match for the Arc League Championship," Henrietta announces proudly and boldly. "The Leo Institute is founded not just for the sole purpose of dueling. It was founded to spread the knowledge of dueling to everywhere. When you want to get in a world of duel monsters and be the best as you can, the Leo Institute will be the one who shall stand with you to achieve your greatest goals of all. And we, of the Leo Institute, are always aiming to achieve goals and get the results of our training."

Her eyes glanced back down and could swear that Yasuko is glaring up at her. "And so, without a moment's notice, let us begin the final match to see who shall be in the Arc League Championship!" She raises her hand up high in the sky to snap her fingers which signifies the activation of the Action Field; **The Last City**. "I activate the Action Field Spell; The Last City!"

The Leo Stadium transforms from a plain stadium with an ARC system machine underneath into a futuristic city in a world where the skylines are surrounded by massive three-hundred-foot wall equipped with guns and cannons to protect the city structure from what lies beyond the scorching wasteland. The night sky shadows over the bright city.

Yasuko and Satsuki stand at the city plaza in front of the tallest tower in the city.

Satsuki takes out her red duel disk from her back holster and attaches it to her left wrist as the orange blade emits from it.

Yasuko pulls out her forest green duel disk from her drop holster and throws it in the air before her left wrist catches it while activating it to glow her blue blade.

With both duelists ready, they can now begin the duel.

"The final battle begins!" Satsuki chanted.

"With our monsters kicking the earth and flying in the sky!" Yasuko chanted as well.

"We shall see who becomes the top!" Satsuki added.

"And shall reign over everyone else!" Yasuko chorused.

"Behold, the greatest evolution of dueling begins!" They sing together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana: LP 4000**

 **VS**

 **Satsuki Guenin: LP 4000**

" _ **DUEL!**_ _"_

The bubble holding all the Action Cards pops in the air to rain the cards all over the field, starting the duel between two duelists. With five cards in each of their hands, Satsuki starts the match,

"As the guest of honors, I shall let you go first, Yasuko Yukihana," Satsuki offered. "I'm dying to know how strong you are."

Yasuko narrows her eyebrows in response to Satsuki's comment. "Okay," she agreed.

 **Turn 1: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko looks at the cards that are in her hand. It's not the right setup, but it is something that she can do. She takes out a card to Normal Summon **The King of D. (ATK 1200/DEF 1100)**. "I summon King of D!" Yasuko began. From out of the portal is the dragon rockstar sorcerer with a long red cape, wearing a skill dragon head while holding a three-headed guitar. "King of D's special effect activates," she said. "When it is Summoned, I can discard one card to add one Dragon Revival Rhapsody, Flute of Summoning Dragon, or Melody of Awakening Dragon." She takes out **Mesmeric Control** and discards it. "I discard one card to add the Flute of Summoning Dragon." A card pops out from Yasuko's deck to let herself add **The Flute of Summoning Dragon**. "Now I activate the Flute of Summoning Dragon!" Yasuko plays the spell card that she just recently added.

"The Flute of Summoning Dragon allows me to Special Summon up to two dragon monsters!" She takes out two more cards to Special Summon **Assault Wyvern (ATK 1700/DEF 1000)** and **Dragard (ATK 1300/DEF 1900)** in Defense Position. "I Special Summon Assault Wyvern and Dragard!" Two portals that are sandwiching between Yasuko opens to let a blue wyvern, and a black armored dragon with purple underbelly scales appears on the field.

"Next, I Overlay Dragard and Assault Wyvern to build the Overlay Network!" Yasuko raises her hand as the blue dragon turns into a green light while the dark purple dragon transforms into a purple light. The two lights shine before they zipped up like a shooting star before falling into the galaxy portal underneath Yasuko's feet. A bright light shoots up from the galaxy portal.

" _The sharpshooter who makes his mark! Reveal yourself and shoot down my targets with your dual-wielding pistols who dare to challenge you!_ I _**Xyz Summon**_ _! Appear, Rank 4! Gagaga Cowboy!"_ Yasuko Xyz Summons **Gagaga Cowboy** **(ATK 1500/DEF 2400)** in Defense Position. The light reveals a cowboy with a brown hat and a shawl that is more like a cape with high knee cowboy boots and gauntlets that has two pistols attached to it.

"I activate Gagaga Cowboy's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "I detach one Overlay Unit to inflict 800 points of damage if this monster is in Defense Position!" She points at Satsuki. "And that means, I'm going to burn you with 800 points!" The cowboy readies his two pistol gauntlets and fires three shots to hit Satsuki at the chest and at the legs. The girl flinches back after taking the damage.

 **(Satsuki: LP 4000** → **3200)**

The You-Show audience is impressed by Yasuko being able to inflict damage to her opponent on her first turn.

"Whoa," said Tate. "Yasuko just went in and deal damage, and she didn't even have to attack."

"That's so cool," said Frederick.

"It's her first turn, and she can do that much damage that doesn't have to do with battle," said Allie, amazed by Yasuko's first move.

Despite seeing Yasuko inflicting damage, it bothers Yuya and Zuzu due to how the girl is rushing again.

"But still, how will Yasuko respond to Satsuki?" Zuzu wondered.

"I just hoped Yasuko might make it through," said Yuya. "Otherwise this might be the end for her chance in getting into the Arc League."

Yasuko takes one more card from her hand and Sets it. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn," she concluded.

 **Turn 2: Satsuki (5x cards)**

"It's my turn now," said Satsuki. "I draw!" Satsuki draws a card from her deck. The red-haired girl smiles when she saw the cards that are in her hand. She takes out one to proceed with her move.

"For my first move, I activate this Continuous Spell, Fire Formation – Ingen!" Satsuki activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Fire Formation** — **Ingen**. "This Spell gives all Beast-Warrior monsters that I control 100 ATK points."

Yasuko finds the effect of the continuous spell to be very fragile. "That's all?" she questioned.

"You'll be surprised what this card can do," Satsuki replied. "When this card is activated, it lets me Fusion Summon one monster from my Extra Deck by using Fusion Materials from either the hand or the field." She takes out two monster cards that Satsuki is going to use as Fusion Materials: **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Rooster** and **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Buffalo**. "I use Brotherhood of the Fire Fist Rooster and Buffalo as Fusion Materials!" By taking out the two monsters that in her hand, Satsuki sends the Fire Fist raven who wears a gold crown over his head and dressed in Chinese armor and a warrior that has armor appears before Yasuko as the swirling vortex of red and blue consumes them.

" _Warrior of the east! Join the brotherhood of fire and prepare to swear your allegiance to the cause!_ I _**Fusion Summon**_!" Satsuki chanted. " _Appear! Level 8! Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Swan!"_ Satsuki Fusion Summons **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Swan (ATK 2600/DEF 2200)** in Attack Position. The monster that Satsuki summoned is a large Chinese warrior with a large spear as he spins his weapon over his head before brandishing it in front of him. Due to the effect of Satsuki's spell card on the field, her swan warrior gains a small attack power.

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Swan: ATK 2600** → **2700)**

The You-Show audiences are surprised by how the girl was able to do a Fusion Summon.

"Whoa," said Tate. "She did a Fusion Summon!"

"And it's stronger than either of Yasuko's monsters," Allie replied.

"I just hoped Yasuko has something in her sleeve," Frederick wondered.

Satsuki wasn't done with the move just yet and proceeds to take out one more card to Normal Summon **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Spirit (ATK 500/DEF 200)**. "Next, I summon the Tuner monster, Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Spirit!" When the portal besides the swan warrior opened, a spirit warrior that is in a dark blue apparition and armor. Because the spell card is on the field, the spirit warrior gains some attack power.

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Spirit: ATK 500** → **600)**

Upon hearing the word, 'tuner,' the whole stadium is screaming with surprise to see someone like Satsuki be using a Tuner monster.

"What?!" Yuya gasped. "She's got a Tuner monster?"

"No way!" Zuzu replied, exclaiming at the end of the sentence. "I never thought there would be someone like Declan to do that."

"Neither did I!" Sora agreed.

The You Show people watched the duel anxiously. The girl is about to make her move.

"Now Spirit's special effect activates!" Satsuki exclaimed. "When this monster is Normal Summoned, I can Special Summon one FIRE monster that has 200 DEF points from my graveyard." She demonstrates by throwing out her arm to select one monster and Special Summon **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Rooster (ATK 1500/DEF 200)**. The rooster warrior that has the Chinese battle armor and a flaming sword in one hand appear on the field.

To everyone, seeing a Tuner monster on the field is a shocker, but to Yasuko, it didn't even surprise her one bit. She seems to be relaxed after seeing a tuner monster from a different duelist other than Declan. It's no surprise to Yasuko that the Leo Institute would be teaching someone else multiple Extra Deck techniques. She watches as Satsuki makes her move.

"Now, I activate Rooster's special effect!" Satsuki stated. "When this card is Special Summoned, I can add one Fire Fist monster from my deck to my hand!" The deck from Satsuki's duel disk pops out one card and allow Satsuki to add the **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Elephant**. "I add the Elephant from my deck to my hand!" After adding the card, Satsuki can now do the next step of her combo.

"Now, I activate Rooster's other special effect!" Satsuki added. "Once per turn, I can send one face-up Fire Formation card on my field to the graveyard to Set one Fire Formation card from my deck." She raises her hand over to the face-up spell card. "And Ingen's special effect activates as well," she added. "When Ingen is sent from the field to the graveyard, I can add one Fire Fist monster from my graveyard back to my hand!" She takes one monster and adds **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Buffalo**. "I'll add my Buffalo from the graveyard back to my hand, and I send my Ingen to Set one Fire Formation Trap Card!" By removing the Ingen spell card, Satsuki chooses one Trap Card that she can use later on and Sets the Counter Trap Card: **Ultimate Fire Formation** — **Sinto**. Due to the Ingen spell leaving the field, all of the monsters on Satsuki's field returns to normal.

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Swan: ATK 2700** → **2600)**

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Rooster: ATK 1600** → **1500)**

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Spirit: ATK 600** → **500)**

"The conditions are set," Satsuki announced. "Now, I tune my level 3 Spirit with my level 3 Rooster!"

At once, the spirit warrior transforms into three green rings to scan the rooster warrior. The rings scan the monster until it was just his outlines and three glowing white orbs. Once the outlines disappeared, the orbs realign themselves into a straight line.

" _Royalty of Fire! Ride your chariot horse down to burn away all of my enemies and swoop in to join the cause of her brotherhood of fire!_ I _**Synchro Summon**_! _Ride! Level 6! Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Horse Prince_!" Satsuki Synchro Summons **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Horse Prince (ATK 2200/DEF 2200)**. From out of the bright light is a Chinese prince riding his blue flaming horse with his sword ready to slash and slice.

The You-Show are getting anxious after seeing Satsuki doing her Synchro Summon. Compared to Declan and his Fusion and Synchro monsters, they felt that the final challenger for Yasuko might be on Declan's level in terms of Extra Deck knowledge.

"This is bad," said Tate. "Satsuki can not only Fusion Summon, but she can also Synchro Summon."

"It's like she's another Declan," said Allie.

"I'm starting to get some shivers down in my spine," Frederick quivered from the sight of two different Extra Deck monsters.

Even Yuya and Zuzu cannot deny the growing uneasy feeling in their chest. After seeing Declan's three multiple Extra Deck techniques, they both wonder if Satsuki is anywhere close to being Declan's level.

"I have a feeling this won't turn out well for Yasuko," said Yuya, looking at the cynical girl with concern. "I know Declan was a strong opponent in the beginning…"

"But how strong is Satsuki?" Zuzu stated, fidgeting her fingers nervously.

Satsuki then takes out one more card to activate the Continuous Spell Card: **Fire Formation** — **Tenki**. "Next, I activate the Spell, Fire Formation — Tenki!" she exclaimed. "This card lets me add one Level 4 or lower Beast-Warrior monster from my deck to my hand!" A card pops out to let Satsuki add **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Boar** from her deck to her hand. "I'm going to add Boar straight to my hand, and this card gives all Beast-Warrior monsters 100 ATK points." In addition to having the beast-Warrior card, Satsuki's monsters gain more power.

 **(** **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Swan** **: ATK 2600 → 2700)**

 **(** **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Horse Prince: ATK 2200 → 2300)**

 **(** **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Raven: ATK 200 → 300)**

With two of the powerful monsters on the field, Satsuki can now go for the offensive after Yasuko's first damage against her on her first turn. "Battle!" She points at the cowboy. "I attack Gagaga Cowboy with Swan!" The swan warrior readies his spear forward, and he jumps ahead to get himself ready to pierce the spear weapon through the cowboy.

"At this moment, I activate Swan's special effect!" Satsuki declared. "During the Battle Phase, I can send one face-up Fire Formation card on my field to the graveyard to target one card on the field and destroy it!" She points at her only face-up Spell. "I send my Tenki from the field to the graveyard to destroy Gagaga Cowboy!" For sacrificing the small attack power, the swan warrior makes the attempt to use the winds in order to destroy the cowboy, but Yasuko had already come up with the solution to save her monster.

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Swan: ATK 2700** → **2600)**

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Horse Prince: ATK 2300** → **2200)**

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Raven: ATK 300** → **200)**

"I activate the Trap! Dimensional Prison!" Yasuko flips up her face-down to activate the Trap Card: **Dimensional Prison**. "When a monster declares an attack, I can target the attacking monster and banish it!" She points at the Swan. "You've failed to even see this one coming! I banish your Swan!" On cue, a dimension portal rips through the fabric of space and time to suck in the swan warrior, effectively banishing it from the field. "Should've taken care of that face-down before you had the chance, nitwit," said Yasuko.

Satsuki's eyes narrowed, giving off a glare to the cynical girl. "I've studied you and your deck," said Satsuki. "While I am impressed with your playstyle, I am different than any other students here." She turns to the dragon rockstar. "I attack King of D with Horse Prince!" The horse prince warrior rides his flaming blue horse with its curved sword to slice the monster in half, destroying it with a big explosion; though it never phased Yasuko despite losing some life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **3000)**

Yasuko's eyes narrow in response to her sentence. She's faced Declan before, and if she can compare Satsuki to either Melania or Declan, she is nothing to her. "Oh really?" she inquired. "I don't see anything much coming from you."

Satsuki takes out one card from her hand to Set it. "I'll Set a card face-down and end my turn!" she exclaimed. "I'll show you what I am capable of," she said. And with that, Satsuki turns around to start running out of the city square and into the futuristic city.

"So, it begins," Yasuko murmured. Yasuko bolts to the left side to find herself Action Cards that can stop her opponent.

Nico makes a sound of amazement after seeing Yasuko and Satsuki make battle exchanges in the turn. "Looks like the two duelists are now evenly matched with their wits and cunning schemes," he said. "Yasuko strikes first with dealing 800 points of damage on her first turn, and then Satsuki manages to even up the score with 1000 points of damage!" The host leans forward to get a closer look at the duel. "This could be the final duel of the lifetime for these two duelists!"

 **Turn 3: Yasuko (0x card)**

Yasuko turns to the alleyway while looking around for any Action Cards. Her cowboy was jumping on the rooftops after another to keep up. She has to think of something fast; otherwise, it will be hard for her to retaliate against Satsuki after the last turn. With no cards in her hand, the least she can do is keep on moving.

"My turn!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. "And I activate the Pot of Desires Spell!" Yasuko activates the **Pot of Desires** Spell Card. "This card banishes the top ten cards from my deck to draw two cards!" Yasuko banishes the top ten cards from her deck to draw two cards.

Yasuko makes her way inside an office building to start using the elevator that seems to be working even if it is an Action Field. She looks out in the window where the cowboy jumps high to land himself on top of the elevator shaft. She spots Satsuki running across the rooftop with her monsters not far from behind as they were joining the duelist in running on building rooftops.

"I detach one Overlay Unit to activate Gagaga Cowboy's special effect!" Yasuko announced. "When I detach a material and this monster is in Defense Position, Gagaga Cowboy can inflict 800 points of damage!"

The cowboy takes out two of his pistol gauntlets and fires four shots to Satsuki across the street and hits her: two at the chest, one at the leg, and the other grazing her left arm dealing effect damage to Satsuki.

 **(Satsuki: LP 3200** → **2400)**.

"I summon Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter (ATK 1700/DEF 1200)**. The black dragon with half of its body being a solar fire that was divided by the green orb on its chest appears on the field in the air after Yasuko stops the elevator in one of the rooftops. She exits out to start running over to the edge.

"Battle!" Yasuko declared. "Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter, attack Raven!" The solar hybrid dragon roars and just as it flies off to attack, Yasuko snags an Action Card that was hanging on the ledge of the rooftop she is on. Yasuko makes a big jump before the girl starts freefalling down from the building. "I activate the Action Spell! Double Bull Shower!" Yasuko Activates the Action Spell Card: **Double Bull Shower**. "This card targets one monster on the field and decreases its DEF points by 1000!" As she slams the card on her blue blade, the solar hybrid dragon flies underneath Yasuko and elevates itself to let the girl ride it. The girl spots Satsuki by the office building that is not too high for her to liking.

"I target Raven and decrease his DEF points by 1000!" The Action Card pops up on the field to send a lightning bolt to zap the monster and decrease its defense power.

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Raven: DEF 1800** → **800)** The solar hybrid dragon fires a fairing breath that vaporizes the raven warrior.

With her Battle Phase ending, Yasuko finishes her turn after she Sets a card. "I Set a card face-down to end my turn, and now Dwarf Star's special effect activates," she said. "On the End Phase of the turn that this monster is Normal Summoned, I can add one Level 7 LIGHT or DARK monster from my deck to my hand." She picks one monster to choose from and adds **Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson**.

 **Turn 4: Satsuki (4x cards)**

Satsuki moves from rooftop to rooftop until she lands back on solid ground. She looks up and watches Yasuko hop over another rooftop from a very high apartment building. She can tell that Yasuko does not show any signs of fear of heights. Any girl would be fearing the height thing, but Yasuko keeps on jumping over the apartment complex as if she is in a playground.

"My turn!" Satsuki shouted. "I draw!" Satsuki draws a card from her deck. She looks at the hand setup and felt a tuck from the corner of her mouth that forms a smirk. "Now it begins," she said.

Satsuki starts climbing up the ladder and reaches the rooftop. Once she has made it up, Satsuki can chase after Yasuko as she starts running across the smooth rooftop on her side. It was a race with both girls trying to outpace each other to find Action Cards for themselves.

"I activate the Continuous Spell, Fire Formation — Tensu!" Satsuki activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Fire Formation** — **Tensu**. "This card lets me make an additional Normal Summon after my first Normal Summon this turn!" She takes out one card and Normal Summons **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Elephant (ATK 1000/DEF 1800)**

"I summon Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Elephant!". A portal beside Satsuki opens to let out a white-haired Chinese martial artist with gold drapes, a Chinese armor, and an armor gauntlets wielding a knife.

Satsuki hops over a rooftop before jumping down to the lower side of the city. While Satsuki was running, she didn't notice that Yasuko was right on her tail as she slides on the rooftop to drop down on the sidewalk before heading down to the lower district.

"Thanks to Tensu's effect, since I made a Normal Summon this turn, I can Normal Summon another monster to the field." Satsuki picks out one more monster and Normal Summons **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Buffalo (ATK 1700/DEF 1000)**. "I Summon Buffalo!" A second Chinese warrior with a horned helmet wearing a heavy armor coded in silver and scarlet red appears from the portal that pops up from a fountain nearby.

"Elephant's special effect activates!" Satsuki called. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can send one face-up Fire Formation from the field to the graveyard to Special Summon one Fire Fist monster from my hand!" Satsuki starts to head down to the street and makes a sprint across to the parking lot. "I send my Tensu from the field to the graveyard to Special Summon the Tuner monster, Boar!" With all two monsters on the field, Satsuki removes her spell card from the field to make an additional third summon as she Special Summons **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Boar** **(ATK 1100/DEF 1400)**. Satsuki stops on the bridge where a big muscular Chinese warrior with a giant spear appears on the field.

The You-Show are all dismayed after seeing the second Tuner monster. Most of them were expecting Satsuki to make a second Synchro Summon considering that she has a tuner monster already out on the field.

"Ah, great," Tate sighed. "There she goes again."

"This is getting bad," said Frederick.

"But at least Yasuko has monsters that can defend herself," Allie reassured. "So there's nothing more than what Satsuki can do."

The You-Show were expecting Satsuki to make another Synchro Summon, but instead, the girl had other plans.

"Now the conditions are set," Satsuki smirked as she throws her hand in the air. "I take my Boar and my Elephant to build the Overlay Network!" At one, the two monsters turn into red lights before shooting up in the air and then making it down into the galaxy portal in front of the girl. The whole you-Show students were bewildered when they saw how Satsuki is making a third Extra Deck summon.

"No way!" The three kids gasped.

"She can do an Xyz Summon?!" Zuzu inhaled.

"She's like Declan!" Yuya accused.

The red lights are absorbed into the galaxy portal before a bright single light shoots up in the air.

" _Fire Warrior of the East! Come forth and bring the rain of fire in your wake of arrival with the wings of the songbird!_ I _**Xyz Summon**_ _! Appear! Rank 4! Brotherhood of the Fire Fist — Cardinal!"_ Satsuki Xyz Summons **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Cardinal (ATK 1800/DEF 2200)** in Attack Position. From the galaxy portal, a red emperor wearing battle garbs with a spirit of a cardinal appears on the field with his flaming sword weapon ready to use.

The whole stadium in the LDS is making an uproar for the Leo Institute student when she makes her third Extra Deck summon.

"Will you just look at the crowd!" Nico announced boldly. "They all seem to be excited to see Satsuki Guenin who has made her final Extra Deck Summon, and this one's an Xyz Summon!"

Despite the surprise and the shocked look from the You-Show students or anyone else who is learning to duel, Yasuko was _not_ surprised. Her face doesn't show any signs of bewilderment or shock. Her stone face gives only annoyance that is rising inside of her.

"Great," Yasuko retorted. Just what I need: another duelist who makes it drag for me." Sometimes, Yasuko often wonders why she gets the hard ones to duel in the official duel school.

Satsuki pries her eyes to the girl and said, "Must be your unlucky day."

Yasuko turns around to get away from Satsuki and her monsters and runs across the bridge to the other side of the city that is separated by the river.

"You think I will let you escape that easily?" Satsuki inquired. "I detach two Overlay Units from Cardinal to activate its special effect!" She throws her hand over to the red emperor. "I can target two Fire Formation cards face-up on the field or graveyard to target two face-up cards on your field or in the graveyard and shuffle them back into the deck!" She starts running, crossing the bridge to go after Yasuko. "And I target Gagaga Cowboy and Dwarf Star to shuffle them back into the deck!" The red emperor swings his mighty sword to send a wave of flames over to Yasuko and her monster. She ducks down as the flames shuffle the cowboy and the dragon planeter back into her deck and Extra Deck.

The You-Show are all shocked to see Yasuko being openly vulnerable.

"Oh no!" Allie cried. "Yasuko has no monsters on the field!"

"She's wide open!" Tate exclaimed.

"If this attack gets through," said Frederick. "It'll be all over for Yasuko!"

Yasuko can feel her jaws clenching together in anger over the loss of her protection. She turns around to get herself an Action Card and fast before Satsuki can even begin her next move.

"Now, I activate the Continuous Trap! Fire Formation – Tensen!" Satsuki flips up her face-down Continuous Trap Card: **Fire Formation** — **Tensen**. "This card targets one Beast-Warrior monster that I control 700 ATK points, and all Beast-Warrior monsters that I control gain 300 ATK points!" She starts to pursue the cynical duelist. "Get ready! Yasuko Yukihana! Here I come!" And so, Yasuko is being chased by Satsuki and her monsters as they powered up by the trap card. "I target my Horse Prince and give him 700 ATK points!"

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Horse Prince: ATK 2200** → **3200)**

 **(** **Brotherhood of the Fire Fist:** — **Cardinal: ATK 1800** → **2100)**

 **(Brotherhood of the Fire Fist** — **Buffalo: ATK 1800** → **2100)**

Satsuki gets assistance from the horse prince for a ride to start chasing after the girl. "Battle!" She points at Yasuko who was not far from her sight. "Horse Prince attacks directly!" The horse makes a loud neigh as it gallops over to Yasuko where the prince can unsheathe his sword to take a swing at the girl.

Yasuko makes a brief glance over her shoulder, watching the horse prince chasing after her from behind. "I activate my Trap! Counter Gate!" Yasuko flips her face-down Trap Card: **Damage Diet**. "When a monster declares an attack, I can negate it, and draw one card, and if it's a monster, I can Normal Summon it!"

In response to the activation of the trap card, Satsuki anticipates her to use the face-down and makes a counter by activating the Counter Trap Card: **Ultimate Fire Formation** — **Sinto**. "It's useless!" she jeered. "I activate the Counter Trap! Ultimate Fire Formation — Sinto! When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect activates while I control a face-up Fire Formation card and a Fire Fist monster on the field, I can negate and destroy it!"

Yasuko's duel disk makes two loud beeps to reject the activation of her trap card as it bursts into particles. The girl makes a low growl before she slides on the ground to get herself under the railings of stairs and drops down to swipe an Action Card from the ground.

"I activate the Action Spell, Evasion!" Yasuko activates the Action Spell Card: **Evasion**. "When a monster declares an attack this turn, I can negate it!" The horse prince makes a swing of his sword at Yasuko, but he missed and only cut a single hair from the girl. Yasuko moves to the alley and starts running across the street, looking at the ground for more Action Cards.

"You are good, but that won't save you from stopping me, Yasuko!" Satsuki bellowed. "Cardinal, attacks directly!" The red emperor swings his sword over with one giant swipe that sends a mirage of a fiery cardinal bird coming toward Yasuko.

The girl can feel her lungs getting thicker as she runs around for more Action Cards. She happens to spot one by an intersection. She takes it, but it was not the Action Cards that she hoped for. Yasuko looks up and saw the flaming cardinal coming fast. The flaming cardinal bird swoops in and explodes in front of Yasuko, hitting her entire body with flames that might burn her hair and skin. She makes a shout of pain as Yasuko was sent flying over across until she hits the stone statue that was destroyed upon her impact, delivering massive damage to her life points.

 **(Yasuko: LP 3000** → **900** **)**

The You-Show people show more anxiety they are feeling after Yasuko was taken the hit from her attack.

"Yasuko's not gonna make it!" Allie shrieked, holding her hands to the side of her head.

"One more hit, and it's all over!" Tate panicked.

The sight is scaring the three kids so much that it makes Frederick cover his eyes. "Oh, I can't watch!" he moaned.

Yuya, Zuzu, and Sora are showing their frightened concern, seeing Yasuko struggling against Satsuki who is like Declan who can master all three Extra Deck Summons.

"If Yasuko takes this one more hit, then it's all over!" Zuzu exclaimed.

"Come on, Yasuko!" Yuya called. "You've got to find a way to stop her!"

Yuya's call never reached to the girl. She having trouble getting herself to stand up, only to make it to a crouching position. She was panting from exhaustion makes her head snap up to give a glare at Satsuki before she makes her move with the Action Spell Card: **Damage Draw**. "I activate the Action Spell, Damage Draw!" Yasuko yelled. "This card lets me draw 2 cards if I took 2000 or more damage this turn!" Yasuko draws two cards, but it did not seem to make the You-Show even feel better after the attack.

"That won't save you this time, Yasuko!" Satsuki stated. "I say this is game over for you!" She points at Yasuko who is in the city square. "Buffalo, attack Yasuko, and end this duel!" The buffalo warrior readies his two swords and charges over to slash the girl and end her life points. As everyone holds their breaths, Yasuko makes a second counterattack.

"I activate Battle Fader's special effect from my hand!" Yasuko declared. "When a monster attacks me directly, I can Special Summon this card from my hand and end the Battle Phase!" Yasuko Special Summons **Battle Fader (ATK 0/DEF 0)** from her hand. A metronome pixie fiend devil with a bell and a click stick appears on the field. At once, the metronome fiend swings the bell back and forth to make sound waves. The buffalo warrior's sword clashed with the sound waves that act as a barrier for Yasuko, effectively ending Satsuki's attack.

"What?!" Satsuki gasped. "From your hand!?"

"What a bold comeback!" Nico broadcasted from the microphone. "After taking three of the brutal attacks, Yasuko Yukihana manages to hold on for one more turn!"

The stadium is making loud noises that show how excited they are to see the duel between two of the strongest duelists. The You-Show people felt relieved that Yasuko manages to stop Satsuki's attacks.

"That was close," said Tate.

Frederick peeks over his hands covering his eyes. "Did Yasuko made it?" he asked.

"Barely," Allie sighed. "At least she manages to last for one more turn."

Yuya is looking at Yasuko with worries coming from his gut. "But still, Yasuko has no cards other than that one."

Zuzu nodded. "It all depends on one draw," she said.

Sora licked his lollipop while eying at Yasuko carefully. "If she can make a comeback after this one, she'll be fine," he assured. "But if not…" He didn't want to finish the sentence because all of the You-Show knows the outcome if Yasuko doesn't get the right card.

Satsuki was glaring at Yasuko for her failure to finish the girl off once and for all. "You've brought yourself some time, but you won't survive on the next turn," she said. "I hoped you've got something pulled from that last Action Card." She starts running away from the scene to get herself some more Action Cards that can even tip in her favor. "I end my turn."

 **Turn 5: Yasuko (2x cards)**

Yasuko can feel her body starting to give after taking the last blow. Her life points are running low. She is nearly at her limit. Yasuko needs to finish Satsuki once and for all. "My turn!" Yasuko looks down at the card that is in her hand. Scanning each one, the tuner monster is the only thing that can give her the edge. " _Come on!"_ Yasuko thought. " _Don't lose on me, I need something that can beat Satsuki and get in the Arc League."_ Slowly, the girl places two fingers on top of her deck. "I draw!" Yasuko draws a card from her deck. She looks at it, and it is the one that can make her get what she needs to win the match. "It's go time!" Yasuko starts running before she wall-runs to make a tic tac over for the metronome fiend to fly over, and the girl grabs onto the fiend as it flies over to let Yasuko fall on the rooftop. From there, she starts running to get visual on Satsuki running around in the street.

"I summon Influence Dragon!" Yasuko Normal Summons **Influence Dragon (ATK 300/DEF 900)**. On her side of the field is a dragon monster who is in a blue suit that has a metaling from the back and olive scales. "I activate Influence Dragon's effect! once per turn, I can target one monster and it becomes a Dragon type!" She gestures to the fader. "I change Battle Fader into a Dragon type!" Yasuko wasn't done with her move just yet.

"I activate Destrudo's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "I can target one monster on the field and pay half of my life points to Special Summon Destrudo, the Lost Dragon Frisson from my hand with its level reduced by the monster that I targeted!" She takes out her tuner monster and Special Summons **Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson (ATK 1000/DEF 3000)** in Defense Position. "I Special Summon the Tuner monster, Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson!" The grotesque dragon with muscles and bones appears on the field with its level reduced by the metronome's level.

 **(Destrudo, the Lost Dragon's Frisson: Level 7** → **6)**

As the price for using the special effect, Yasuko's Life points are being cut in half with statics emitting from her body.

 **(Yasuko: LP 900** → **450)**

"Now, I tune the level 6 Destrudo with the level 1 Battle Fader!" The grotesque dragon flies upward with the metronome fiend following right behind it. The dragon turns into six green rings before they scan the metronome fiend, turning all of its solid mass body into its outline with only one single orb of light. The orb realigns itself before bursting a single bright beam of light.

 **(6 + 1 = 7)**

" _Dragon of fire! Come to the earth and blast away my enemies who stand before you! I_ _ **Synchro Summon**_ _! Rage on! Level 7! Exploder Dragonwing_!" Yasuko recited before she Synchro Summons **Exploder Dragonwing (ATK 2400/DEF 1800)**. From the bright light comes Yasuko's signature monster, the dark back-deformed violet-red dragon with red-orange wings and flappy scales, and forearms and calves that are two times bigger than the limbs with sharp claws and orange tail. The deformed dragon roars with life to make its appearance known to the audience who were struck by the sudden appearance of Yasuko's Synchro monster.

"Will you look at that!" Nico bellowed from the microphone. "It would seem that Yasuko Yukihana has just made her very first Synchro Summon appearance. This folk could be the final duel of the lifetime for the Arc League Championship!"

The You-Show are getting excited to see Yasuko stepping up to make a comeback.

"Alright!" Tate beamed. "Exploder Dragonwing is on the field!"

"Go, Yasuko!" Allie cheered on.

"I've got the shivers!" Frederick quivered from excitement.

Yasuko's eyes narrowed down at the moving girl. She makes a jump off the rooftop to hop in a ride from the deformed dragon before flying over Satsuki and her monsters. "From my hand, I activate the Pot of Extravagance Spell!" Yasuko activates the **Pot of Extravagance** Spell Card. "This card lets me banish three or six cards from my Extra Deck to draw 1 card for every three banished cards!"

Satsuki looks over her shoulder with shock, staring at Yasuko pursuing from behind. "What?!" she gasped. "You're willing to banish six cards from your Extra Deck?"

Yasuko's frown never left her face, concentrating on getting the resources she needs to win the match. "I'll take whatever chance that I can get to win this match!" She places two fingers on the deck and draws two cards. The cards that she has drawn are the **Return of the Dragon Lords** and **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon**. Yasuko can feel her mouth giving a small twitch. "Just what I need," she muttered under her breath.

Riding the deformed dragon, Yasuko jumps off and starts running along the rooftop until she stops at the edge where she saw Satsuki looking up from the street. "I activate Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon's special effect!" she declared. "I can tribute one level 5 or higher monster from my field to Tribute Summon Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" Yasuko throws her hand up to show Satsuki the effect of her monster. "I tribute my Exploder Dragonwing to Tribute Summon Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon!" The deformed dragon bursts into thousands of particles before reassembling them to Tribute Summon **Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)**. Landing on the rooftop is Yasuko's signature monster of the season, the red-scaled dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes with silver gray-scaled wings at the backbone plate. The dragon roars like it owns the apartment building.

Shocked, the You-Show are confused about why Yasuko would be summoning Odd-Eyes when the deformed dragon has a powerful effect of its own.

Satsuki was bewildered over Yasuko using the effect of her Odd-Eyes to tribute her strong Synchro monster. "You're kidding me," she breathed. "You did all of that just to show off? Are you kidding me?" Yasuko can see the scowl forming to a hard glare from Satsuki's face. "You've been wasting time all for the world to see that Synchro Summon!" she exclaimed. "What was the point of summoning thing!"

"So that I can call in the checkmate!" Yasuko shouted. "Odd-Eyes' special effect activates! When I am Tribute Summoned, I can target one monster that you control and destroy it, and you take damage equal to its original ATK points!" She points at the horse prince. "I target your Horse Prince to destroy it and you take its original ATK points as damage!" The advance dragon opens its jaws and fires off a helix beam over to destroy the monster; unfortunately, Satsuki leaps over and swipes an Action Card that was on the ground. "I activate the Action Spell, Mirror Barrier!" Satsuki activates the Action Spell Card: **Mirror Barrier**. "This card negates my monster's destruction!" A barrio of mirrors formed up and shield the horse prince from the destruction.

"Like that is going to stop me!" Yasuko takes out her second card and activates the Spell Card: **Return of the Dragon Lords**. "I activate the Return of the Dragon Lords Spell!" Yasuko announced. "This card lets me target one Level 7 or 8 Dragon monster from my graveyard and Special Summon it!" She targets her **Exploder Dragonwing** that is in the graveyard and Special Summon it back on the field. "I Special Summon Exploder Dragonwing!" The deformed dragon rises from the ground before flying upwards to float beside the advance dragon.

Satsuki is starting to get scared after seeing the Synchro dragon again. "No way, I've never been outplayed like this before," she uttered.

"Maybe you shouldn't look down on your opponents like me based on past experience, and just get the bigger picture!" Yasuko jumps off, and the two dragons leap over to fly straight for the monster.

"Battle!" Yasuko declared. "Odd-Eyes Advance Dragon, and Exploder Dragonwing! Attack Cardinal and Buffalo!" Both dragons roar as they fly faster to get to their targets. "Exploder Dragonwing's special effect activates! When it battles a monster, it destroys it, and you take damage equal to its ATK points!"

"What!?" Satsuki gasped.

The deformed dragon takes aim at the cardinal while the advance dragon locks onto the buffalo. Both dragons charge up their beams for a few more seconds. Once it is fully charged, the two dragons unleashed twin laser beams down to destroy the two monsters. The massive explosion was rolling over the street and heading toward Satsuki. The girl couldn't believe her eyes. She thought that Yasuko would be going out, but the girl manages to make a comeback through. Satsuki accepts her defeat at the hands of Yasuko as the explosion blows in front of her, ending her life points.

 **(Satsuki: LP 2400** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

The Action Field disappears back to the original glass arena with the Arc System underneath the two-duelist surrounded by the stands.

Yasuko stands triumph as she stares at her opponent who was laying in the ground after taking a major blow to her winning record. Satsuki pulls herself together and stares up to Yasuko. Her face of defeat visible in her eyes.

"I cannot believe you somehow beat me in my duel," said Satsuki. "There goes my record."

Yasuko's frown was small but hard to her. "Here's a lesson for you and for your fellow Leo Institute pals back up there," she proclaimed. She saw Satsuki looking up to her she's said, "Don't underestimate the small-timers like me because you'll never know what kind of abilities they have under their sleeves. And for the record, I wasn't planning on losing this match because I have my reasons for going."

Satsuki gives her a questionable look. "And I suppose it's not the pro-status, is it?" she asked.

"Of course not," said Yasuko before turning her body around. And with that, Yasuko walks out of the arena.

"I-it's finale!" Nico announced. "After such an intense comeback and heated exchange, the victory for this final duel goes to the new rising star duelist of You-Show, Yasuko Yukihana!" As he wails loudly to the microphone, the crowd bursts in screams after seeing the duel.

Yasuko can hear everyone saying to her that she didn't splendid. As she reaches the exit, she was tackled by the three kids.

"Hey!" Yasuko shouted, feeling the weight of the three kids on her stomach.

"You did it, Yasuko!" Tate cheered. "You've earned your sixth consecutive win!"

"Congratulations!" Allie exclaimed. "Now we're _all_ going to be in the Arc League tomorrow!"

Frederick nodded. "You were so amazing out there! It was giving me the shivers!"

Yasuko pulls herself up with the three kids still hugging at her waist. "Look, thanks for all of your support, so can you kids get off me?" Yuya, Zuzu, and Sora come by after them.

"You did it!" Yuya beamed. "Now you can be in the Arc League!"

Yasuko makes a shrug and turns to face Sora and Zuzu. She happens to notice that fresh tears were filling Zuzu's eyes. She had a skeptical look. "Please, don't tell me you're gonna cry on me, aren't you?" Yasuko asked.

Zuzu shakes her head and wipes the tears from her eyes. "No, I'm not," she said. "I'm just…so glad that you finally made it." Zuzu hands over Yasuko's gym bag and she takes it back.

"And right on the deadline," Tate added.

The attention to Yasuko was disrupted by the sound of clapping in the hallways. They all turn to the source and who would think they would last saw Henrietta giving applause for Yasuko. Her professional smile makes Yasuko irk with disgust after all that the woman did to her yesterday.

"Well done, Mrs. Yukihana," Henrietta congratulated. "It would seem that your final match is complete. Now you have all six wins to qualify." The tension between the You-Show students and the woman rose like boiling water.

Yasuko raises her hand to calm them down before stepping forward to face the woman: eye to eye. Despite the heels, Henrietta is still taller than Yasuko; though her top head is close to her chest. Her blue eyes did not show any hate for the woman. It was the same cynical frown that she usually has on her face.

"Just to be clear," Yasuko began. "Whatever you and your son are planning, I don't want any part of it." Her words reach over to the woman. "But if you ever see him again, you tell him this…" She pauses for a moment before speaking in three words to emphasize her sentence. "Bring. It. On."

Yuya is disturbed by what Yasuko is saying, seeing how she is confronting the woman who is the chairwoman of the most prestige school and the mother of Declan. He wished he wants to pull her out to avoid escalating, but Yasuko seems to be composed enough to refrain herself from taking out insults to the woman.

Henrietta, on the other hand, seems intrigued by the fire inside of Yasuko. She never seems to give up so easily. "I look forward to meeting you again in the future, Mrs. Yukihana," she said in a calm professional expression. "And I wish you good luck."

The You-Show is sure enough to feel the fire burning between two of them. The tension between Yasuko and Henrietta already rose to a new height. "Well, I must be going then, big day tomorrow," said Henrietta as she turns around and starts to walk away from the You-Show group. She stops briefly before taking a glance over her shoulder. Even from a distance, the gaze from Yasuko's eyes still burns to her sight. And with that, she turns around to walk even further.

The You-Show never lift their sight on the path where Henrietta was at. Despite the immense energy from the woman, Yasuko kept herself in check of her emotions and not lash out against someone like Henrietta.

Zuzu seemed worried about the turn of events. She turns to Yasuko. "Do you always have to antagonize everyone you meet?" she asked. "What if that woman goes after you if you piss her off?"

Yasuko makes a scoff. "Nonsense," she stated. She turns her body halfway to face the You-Show. "Have you forgotten? I am the _only_ duelist who just beat Declan, the master of three Extra Deck methods, and now he's snooping around to Pendulum. So what if he's got surprises? He'd better prepare for the unexpected tomorrow. If it's a challenge he wants, then I'll accept it head-on."

Yuya and the others are all ambitious with Yasuko's words. His smile returns to his face, full of determination for the Arc League tomorrow.

"Now, who wants cake?" Yasuko asked out of the blue. "I believe we all should have some cake tonight." She turns around to walk herself out of the building.

"I want cake!" Allie called, raising her hand

"I want one too!" Tate added, raising his hand as well

"Me three!" Frederick exclaimed, excited to get some sweet.

Yuya glances at the others. "I think we all deserve it!" he beamed. "After all, we're _all_ going to the Arc League!" Sora and Yuya hugged shoulder to shoulder and walks out with a smiling Zuzu following behind.

* * *

Declan Akaba, who was watching the final duel from the seat of his office on a video feed, seems pleased to hear that Yasuko has earned her final victory to qualify in the Arc League Championship. After watching Yasuko's final match, Declan was convinced. If Yasuko can do an Xyz Summon followed by a Synchro Summon, then there is no doubt that Yasuko can do a Fusion Summon, and adding Pendulum Summon to the mix makes her a very important asset to his plans.

He suspects that Yasuko has to do something about the Pendulum Extra Deck methods considering that she is the third person to obtain Pendulum cards of her own and not from the Leo Corporation. For how she got them, Declan does not know.

"It's confirmed," Claude informed. "Yasuko Yukihana has qualified to join the Arc League Championship."

Regardless of the many theories that are popping in his head, Declan was impressed with Yasuko. In truth, he is gratified with the results that Yasuko is making for him despite not using her Pendulum cards. "Excellent," he confirmed. "A close call but got me exactly what I needed." He turns his chair around to face Claude. "Now all the duelists I want to qualify are going to participate."

Declan deactivates his screen to redirect it to a tablet on his desk. "With Shun Obsidian as my eyes and ears on the ground, we'll find out which duelists will be the one, and we'll find out what _he's_ capable of," he said as Declan turns it on and a diamond logo with a yellow knight riding on a horse pops up where three words translate on beside it.

 _Lance Defense Soldiers_

Declan scrolls down to the profile pictures of everyone who has qualified to join the Arc League Championship. He stops at three people that are most particular.

Yasuko Yukihana. Yuya Sakaki. Sora Perse

"Tomorrow is the day of reckoning," said Declan, giving a serious demeanor. "How many duelists we'll see are worthy to be the spearheads of the front to fight for the future of our world?" Declan's voice gives an ominous strain in his throat as he can only think of which duelists in the Arc League Championship will be his fighters for the upcoming Dimension War.

* * *

 **Hey readers! How's it hanging? Another New Year means another beginning. I know it was late for the post, but something went down, and I have been procrastinating too much on these stories, but I will be consistent as possible to update the story before going into the next one. Anyways, I hope that you are are having a better day. We all get downsides, but if you like what you are reading so far, don't forget to like and what are your thoughts are about this story. Stay tuned readers, and have a happy day!**


	30. Chapter 30: The Arc League Inauguration

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship: Chapter 30: The Arc League Inauguration_

* * *

The Arc League Championship has finally arrived. With so many people coming to the Maiami Stadium to see the hottest event in the world, everyone seems very excited to see which of the best duelists, who have made it to the deadline, will reign supreme over one another and be the first to become a pro-duelist.

The You-Show Duel School has all seven members participating in the tournament, but they have only one problem. Yuya Sakaki is missing. He ditches them right before they were about to go, and they cannot waste any minute as they search for him.

Zuzu is starting to get exhausted from running all morning trying to find her friend. Yuya is nowhere at the Maiami Stadium. She tried calling his mother, but Yoko told her she hadn't seen him. Zuzu is worried. With Yuya missing, it's only a matter of time before the inauguration ceremony starts, and what's making the situation worse is Yasuko Yukihana not being at the stadium before it starts.

Yesterday, Yasuko told everyone from the You-Show that she will meet everyone at the Maiami Stadium before the inauguration ceremony, and she hasn't made her appearance all morning.

Zuzu can only hope that Yasuko will come; otherwise, she'll miss out too. After an hour of a tireless search for Yuya, Zuzu links up with the three little kids; Tate, Frederick, and Allie as they converge around Sora, who was holding a sign that said, 'Yuya Sakaki.'

"Sora!" Zuzu called. "Have you seen him?" Zuzu was panting with exhaustion after running around all morning.

Sora shrugs. "Not a lick of him," he answered.

Allie turns to the others. "So, what now?"

Zuzu had to think of how dire their situation is and takes out her duel disk to call Yasuko about their circumstances. After waiting for Yasuko to call back, the line picks up.

"Hello," Yasuko called at the end of the line.

"Yasuko!" Zuzu nearly shouted in her ear, panicking. "It's Zuzu! We're in trouble! Yuya's missing!"

"Yuya?" Yasuko inquired, her deadpanning tone echoes from the other line. "Isn't he with you guys?"

Zuzu notices how calm Yasuko's tone is right now despite their worse situation with Yuya. "He was supposed to be, but he just vanished!" she exclaimed.

"How should I know where that slacker is?" Yasuko questioned. "Yesterday, I told you guys that Diana is going to take me to meet you at the Maiami Stadium, so how is this my problem?"

"But Yasuko!" Zuzu retorted, highly irritated by Yasuko's lack of awareness in their situation. "The inauguration is about to start in an hour!"

"That's plenty of time before then, and if you count the time between the driving distance, not to mention the traffic, and eating," said Yasuko flatly. "Which is also a factor that takes about twenty minutes."

Zuzu lets a low growl. She is getting very annoyed with Yasuko and her nonchalant attitude. She would've expected Yasuko to be just as worried as she and the other You-Show people are, but as always, Yasuko is still responding with her usual relaxed self. She never was the one to be panicking unless something else happens. "You don't understand," she said. "We searched everywhere, and we cannot find him! He's not at the Maiami Stadium! He's not at home! And he wasn't even at the You-Show when he was with us!"

After a few pausing moments, Zuzu heard Yasuko makes a heavy sigh at the end of the line. "That's because he's in my house, sitting on the couch, eating _my_ sandwich," she informed with a hint of anger.

"Hey, Yasuko!" Yuya called at the other end of the line, probably full of food in his mouth.

"Yuya Sakaki!" Yasuko shouted from Zuzu's phone. "I made that sandwich for myself! Do you know how hard it was to make something that simple!"

"Sorry!" Yuya apologized. "I had no idea this was yours!"

"You're lucky enough to keep your head because I have a spare!" Yasuko exclaimed.

To Zuzu's shock, Yasuko was undisturbed because she already found Yuya and at her place. "Wait, what?!" she gasped. "How the hell did he get to your house that quickly without us knowing?!"

Everyone is more alerted when they heard that Yuya is at Yasuko's house while they were at the Maiami Stadium.

Zuzu can practically feel how annoyed Yasuko must be from the other end of the line. "I don't know," Yasuko stated. "Probably because somebody's writing a stupid no-good reason to have him be here without obeying the laws of physics."

Her words confuse Zuzu. "Huh?"

Zuzu waits for another second as Yasuko makes another sigh. "Just calm down girl, everything's fine; Yuya is with me for now," she informed Zuzu. "We'll be there before the inauguration ceremony starts."

"But it starts in an hour!" Zuzu reminded.

"And that's plenty of time," Yasuko replied with the same deadpanning voice. "Look, don't worry, we'll make it." Zuzu can hear how tired Yasuko is from arguing with her. "Just get everyone ready and tell them that everything's fine."

"Yasuko—" Zuzu didn't get a chance to reply as Yasuko hung up immediately. After searching for Yuya all morning, Zuzu had just found out that he's at Yasuko's place, and he didn't even tell either of them. She was looking at the duel disk as it trembles in her hand with her eyebrows twitching while making a small angry, growling noise. "Seriously…" Zuzu growled. "She hung up on me? What is wrong with her?"

"So wait a minute," said Allie. "Yuya's at Yasuko's place?"

Zuzu can't help but to sigh and turns down to Allie "Seems like it," she said. "I'm pretty sure she knows that she'll be here along with Yuya." She smiles, reassuringly. "Don't worry; they'll make it."

Tate had a curious questionable look. "Seems like Yuya's been hanging with Yasuko a lot more recently," he informed. "Ever since she joined You-Show, Yuya's been with her a lot more than ever."

"I wonder why?" Frederick inquired. "Do you think it's because Yasuko's been teaching Yuya the Extra Deck summons?"

Sora leans back on the wall. "Probably," he assumed. "I mean, that girl's been jogging his head with loads of stuff."

Tate and Frederick exchange look with each other.

"Normally, she would be annoyed to do something like that, but Yuya's been patient with her, and she doesn't seem bothered by it," said Frederick.

Tate crosses his arms. "Maybe it's because of their first duel," he presumed. "I guess Yuya's been eager to learn how to do the Pendulum Extra Deck summon since Yasuko can do Pendulum Summon and use all three of the Extra Deck methods."

Allie looks at the boys. "And Yasuko's been acting little nicer too; though she is still the same Yasuko we all know," she said. She inclines her head to the right, thinking of many different reasons why Yuya is with Yasuko. "Do you think…Yuya's been hanging out with her because maybe he has a crush on her?"

Tate gives a scoff. "Yuya, crushing on Yasuko? Yeah, right," he derided. "If I know Yasuko, she'll barf her breakfast out if she heard that from us."

"But still, what would Yuya be thinking of when he's around Yasuko?" Frederick asked.

Little did that know that the more they talk about Yasuko and Yuya, the more embarrassed Zuzu gets. Her cheeks were growing hotter and a little bit red. Her low growl was seeping out of her mouth. She cannot hold the thought of Yuya being with Yasuko any longer that she screamed out her lungs, "Yuya! Get your lazy butt over here!"

* * *

Back at Yasuko's household, the forest-green haired girl opens the fridge and grabs herself a box of freshly packed sandwiches.

"Yuya, you son of a bitch," Yasuko murmured while searching the fridge for something to eat since Yuya ate her first sandwich. "I told him, last night, I would meet up with him at the Maiami Stadium before the ceremony; I didn't ask him to come here on short notice and eat my sandwich." She turns to the person behind her. "It's annoying sometimes, Rina."

From the tables, an older woman named Rina is probably in her early sixties with gray wavy hair and wrinkles on her cheeks was helping Yasuko pack her gym bag with something to eat.

"He's probably waiting for you, dearly," said Rina.

Yasuko makes another sign. "He worries too much," she replied. She holds other sandwiches and snacks in both her arms and uses her foot to close the fridge. "He worries too much," Yasuko repeated as she starts opening up a pack of the sandwiches.

"I know," Rina replied. The older woman looks at the living room where her husband is in with Yuya. "To be honest…" she began. "When you came to this city, I don't know much about this Yuya boy other than him being the son of Yusho Sakaki, but as I look back and think about how you joined the You-Show…" she paused. "I was convinced that he chooses to be here because you needed someone to be there for you."

Yasuko swallows her bit of food and looks at her grandmother with a questionable face. "What?"

Rina had a smile. "I think it's rather a blessing to have him as your friend."

Once Yasuko got everything, she and Rina head back to the living room where her grandfather, Okajima, is chatting with Yuya. They seem to be on good terms, especially with her grandfather telling Yuya of the times about Yusho before Action Duels. Like Rina, he is in his mid-sixties with a bald head and wrinkles in his face and heavy, baggy eyes. They seem to notice that the ladies.

Yuya stands up from the couch. "Hey," said Yuya, waving at Yasuko. "How are you?"

"Like something about me going to be in a white room," Yasuko replied with a bit of sarcasm.

Yuya has been wondering about something. It's been nagging the back of his head. "Hey, Yasuko, can I ask you something."

"What is it?" Yasuko asked without looking back at him as she starts packing the food in her gym bag.

Yuya thought back to their first duel and the moment when Yasuko did her first Pendulum Summon. In all the duels that Yasuko did, she never even once did a Pendulum Summon. "Are you thinking of using your Pendulum cards?" he asked. "I mean, I don't want to pressure you or anything, but it was just out of curiosity."

Yasuko turns to the boy after he mentioned her using Pendulum cards. Yasuko did think of her Pendulum cards. After her conversation with Henrietta yesterday, she comes to the terms that Pendulum Cards are going to be mainstream, and, inevitably, she cannot keep it all to herself.

"I have been thinking about that," said Yasuko. "I wasn't going to leave Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon in the den, so I did some major modifications to my deck."

Yuya seems surprised. He didn't expect the girl to rearrange her deck so quickly when they were partying at the You-Show. "Since when did you have time to arrange your deck?" he asked.

"Right before I go to bed." Yasuko's eyes gaze down to focus on the duel disk in her holster. It never occurred to her until now that she feels more confident with her deck since it has some changes. "I need to make some upgrades to my deck to withstand anything that people would throw at me, and this one's going to be a lot different than the one that you saw back at my matches." She turns back up to Yuya. "Plus, I'll probably be looking forward to seeing how much you've improved in the Arc League."

Yuya gives the girl a bright beam; he was excited that Yasuko is ready to use her Pendulum cards in the open. "Well then, what are we waiting for?" He wheels around to start running. "Let's go!"

"Hang on," Yasuko cuts right in, interrupting Yuya's moment and making him fall over in shock. "I need to go get something, ok?"

"Can you make it quick?" Yuya stares up with an annoyed face. "The Arc League opening ceremony is about to start in half an hour!"

"I won't be long…" said Yasuko, already walking back upstairs.

The girl makes her way back to her room to get something that is important. Upon entering her room, it was a total mess. There were cards everywhere from the bed to the table; in fact, Yasuko never slept on the bed. She uses the floor with a pillo.w. There were some of the cards stacked on top of each other. Yasuko took a long night figuring out which cards bring out the most consistency. Indeed, she does admire the dragon monsters and the dragon deck that she used to make after the Frontier Games. However, after a week of six consecutive duels with different opponents, she comes to realize that her original deck would suit her perfectly in any dueling situations.

The metal box that contains some cards that she owned in her lifetime and the smaller container that has Yasuko's original deck were opened. Cards like Mythical Beast Cerberus, Frequency Magician, and Rogue Endymion were still inside the smaller box.

Yasuko cleans up fast, putting all the cards inside her metal box before she reaches out to get her most important item: her crystal keychain.

She returns to the living room. "There, that didn't take long," she said. Yasuko grabs her gym bag. "Let's go." And so, the two duelists leave the house to the front where Diana was talking with Yoko.

Diana notices them coming and turns to face Yuya and Yasuko. "Hey, are you kids ready?" she asked.

Yasuko and Yuya nodded.

"All set for the day and probably the rest of the week," said Yasuko.

"We're all good," Yuya replied.

"Sorry, I cannot take you today, Yasuko," Diana stated. "Something came up, and I have to help out with my co-workers." She gestures to Yoko. "Hope you don't mind about having Mrs. Sakaki be the one to take you."

Yasuko shrugs as if she doesn't care. "I don't mind," she said. "I just hope we're there before the time is up."

Diana smiles at her and pats her hand on Yasuko's head. "Then I wish you good luck with this tournament, Yasuko."

Yasuko had a small blush after she was patted in the head like she was a pet. "Stop that," she said bluntly. "I don't like to be petted." She hurries away from Diana's hand and moves to the van. "I call shotgun." Diana and Yoko find it amusing to see how agitated Yasuko is to get underway despite not showing any signs of excitement.

* * *

Yoko drives Yasuko and Yuya to the Miami Stadium. While Yasuko looks out at the window to view the ocean horizon, Yuya was looking at the pendant in his hand, thinking long about how far he's come for his father.

" _Well, dad,"_ Yuya thought. " _This is it. You knew this day was coming, and you were doing your best to prepare me. The tournament where I can finally get closer to you."_ He had a short flashback to the time when his father, Yusho Sakaki, was about to duel Strong Ishijima, aka, the Sledgehammer, and how he talked to him about dueling in his uniqueness.

"Preserve your uniqueness," Yuya recalled what his father said to him.

"You certainly have your way of turning everyone's life upside down, mister," his mother, Yoko, called to him. Yuya's head turns up to her. "While you were busy trying to catch up with Yasuko, your friends were frantically looking for you."

"Zuzu called me, and I told her everything," Yasuko responded without looking away from the window.

Yoko makes a smile. "And she called me too; I just told her everything's fine."

"That's what I said to her," Yasuko replied.

Yoko looks back at the rearview mirror to face Yuya. "Is something a matter, Yuya?" she asked her son what the reason is to be at Yasuko's place while everyone else was at the stadium.

Yuya had some thought to it and turned to the window to face the ocean. "It's just…I wasn't sure if I was going to wait for Yasuko because I didn't want her to miss out on a special event that I hope she will enjoy. And neither was I going to let anyone get the best of her," he stated. "If Yasuko's not there for the Arc League, then what is it that I can do?"

Yasuko's ears perked after hearing his reason. Her eyes rove away from the window and glances at the woman at the driver seat.

"Yuya…" Yoko called. "I know how much you are concern about Yasuko, but you should know something…" Her eyes briefly glance at the girl sitting on the passenger seat before facing forward. "Your new friend here is very capable of handling any situations herself. And even if she doesn't want to be there at the stadium, you should let her decide for herself."

Yasuko didn't want to interrupt Yoko as she was listening to their conversation. Yoko is sure that Yasuko was probably listening to her talk. "Only she can choose whether or not to let herself be at the stadium. If Yasuko wants to be there, then let her, but if she doesn't, then that's okay, you don't always have to be there," she suggested. "You know…your father Yusho had a situation like this one time."

Yasuko and Yuya perked up to Yoko. "What?" they inquired.

"When Yusho is still the champ, he met one little girl named Mina, and she felt like she doesn't belong in the dueling world, but soon after seeing him duel, …she found something after seeing his duel," Yoko tells a story. "And soon after that, Mina chooses to train her dueling and go for the pros."

Yasuko had no idea that Yusho had it in him to make something exclusive even to the little kids. "Really?" she asked.

"Why, of course," said Yoko. "I cannot tell you exactly what you want out of this Arc League, Yukihana, but what I can tell you is…if you choose to take it, then maybe one day…you'll like it."

Yasuko takes Yoko's words for keeps. She mentally had to admit it; Yusho is undoubtedly a very generous person.

"Alright, we're here," said Yoko, cheerfully.

Yasuko and Yuya looked out of the window to see the Maiami Stadium. It was huge compared to Ajinomoto Stadium in Tokyo. The stadium stands in the middle of the bay connected by two highways or by a bridge on foot. There were even four smaller stadiums around the big arena.

"So, this is Maiami City's stadium?" Yasuko queried. "I thought I might've been a little bigger."

Yuya turns up and faces Yasuko. "You should see the stadium," he said. "I bet it's bigger than the one in Tokyo, huh?"

"Actually, all stadiums are big, in my opinion," Yasuko replied.

The parking was a drag because of so many cars in the parking lot. It was then that Yoko decided to drop off Yasuko and Yuya while she goes somewhere who knows where to get inside.

Compared to the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, Yasuko thinks that both the Frontier Games and the Arc League Championship are equal in terms of popularity. So many people, tourists, and families were all converging in one spot to see the best of the best duelists. There are even booths and small shops around the stadium sponsored by the Leo Corporations.

Yasuko and Yuya walk together to the front entrance as the girl check the time on her watch. "Huh? Only 12 minutes before the ceremony begins, that means we've made it," she commented.

"Yeah," said Yuya. "Close call."

Yasuko's duel disk starts to vibrate, which indicates that Zuzu is probably calling her. She answers it. "Hello?" she called.

"Yasuko!" Zuzu's voice blares into her eardrum, making her cringe from the loudness. "Where are you!? You said you have Yuya, and the Arc League ceremony is about to start in 12 minutes!" Zuzu is making a desperate phone call that would require a lot of yelling and shouting from the end of the line, and Yasuko isn't going to have it today.

Yasuko adjusts the volume down and talks back to her in her same calm tone. "For the love of God, girl, we're here," she said, annoyed.

"So where are you?!" Zuzu panicked.

Yasuko stops, and Yuya did the same as the girl looks over the crowd of people in the entrance. There were a lot of students from different schools than Yasuko can count. Her eyes scan the area to look for the girl with dark pink hair. As she turns to a corner, she then spots the sign that a kid with bright blue hair was holding a sign that said, "Yuya Sakaki."

"Wait, I see you..." Yasuko responded and cut off the line. She turns to Yuya. "I found them."

"You did?" Yuya inquired.

Yasuko nodded her head in the other direction. "Come on," she said. Yuya follows Yasuko behind until the sight of the You-Show comes to their full view. All of the You-Show students are present. Tate, Frederick, Allie, Sora, and Zuzu are all waiting for the last two people.

"Hey, you guys!" Yuya called, waving from behind.

"Yuya! Yasuko!" The three kids and Sora called to him.

Yasuko and Yuya then come up to them but only for Zuzu to grab Yasuko's hand with both of hers. "What took you two so long!?" she exclaimed. "You nearly drive us crazy all morning waiting for you two to show up! Do you know what time it is?!"

Yasuko had a raised eyebrow and questionable look. "I told you I was coming, and I did," she said, looking the other way with a deadpan expression. "Sheeesh, you're like my mom sometimes." She then looks down at her hand. "By the way, I didn't know you swing that way."

Zuzu was confused until she looked at her hands holding Yasuko's. She realized that Yasuko meant and finches in shock as she retreats her hand away from Yasuko's with embarrassment. She crosses her arms on her chest. "Well, the point is…you're here. Yuya's here. Everyone's here," she said, trying hard to stop her blush from rising in her cheeks. "That's good."

Yasuko wipes her hand on her jeans. "Now then, let's get going," she said as Yasuko starts walking off to the hallway.

Yuya held a smile on his face. "Let's," he beamed. The two of them started to walk to the entrance of the arena.

Zuzu had a look, staring at the two of them with exasperation. "You know…Yuya's one thing, but you two…you can be so annoying sometimes," she said scornfully.

Yuya has a playful smile. "Me? Annoying?" he chuckled. "No way!"

Yasuko turns her head over her shoulder. "Well, you are a pain sometimes, Yuya." While she was distracted, she wasn't sure who was in front of her because she bumped into someone from the back. She turns to face the person in front of her. "Hey! Watch where you're standing, jackass!" she yelled.

What Yasuko didn't expect is to face the back of a tall, muscular young man who is as build as Gongenzaka wearing a pair of blue pants and a red sash on his abdomen that goes with a purple shirt and a blue jacket. Notably, Yasuko notices that he also wears a pair of steel bracers and sandals like Gongenzaka. He turns around slowly with an inflamed vein popping on his temple. "Huh?" he growled ominously. "Who said that?" His heavy voice gives a low growl in the end. His teeth grit so hard that he looks like he's ready to pound someone.

Yasuko jabs a thumb at Yuya. "He did," she blurted out.

"Yasuko!" Yuya exclaimed, shocked.

The young man towers over Yasuko and Yuya. She thought it's maybe because of the metal sandals that he is wearing or that he's an adult trying to be a kid. She cannot tell. The young man in front of her and Yuya look like a grown wrestler because of his size. The young man turns around to face Yasuko and Yuya with his massive bulky arms and his scowl.

Yuya seems to recognize the young man in front of him. "It's you!" Yuya gasped.

"Who's he?" Yasuko asked.

Yuya narrows his eyes at the young man, unable to shake away the angry feeling rising from his veins. "His name is Gen Ankokuji, and he's the toughest guy in the block, but everyone calls him 'Grizzlepike,'" he explained without removing his gaze from the bully who tormented him.

Gen Ankokuji, or as everyone calls him, Grizzlepike, grows a smug look on his face. He was looking at Yuya with as if he's ready to torment the boy all over again. "Well, well, well," he sneered, amused. "So, you're in this big tournament too? I'm shocked that you didn't decide to hightail and run out of the championship just like your wimpy old man once did."

Yuya's face turns sour, making him furious after seeing his bully. His fingers clenched together into fists. "What'd you say?!" Yuya snapped.

From the moment Grizzlepike made an insult to Yuya, Yasuko can quickly dislike the young man after seeing how the guy in front of her is rude to Yuya. "Who said he was running," she retorted.

Grizzlepike turns to her. "And who are you supposed to be? His girlfriend," he sneered.

Yasuko glares her eyes at Grizzlepike, showing complete hatred toward the latter. "No, but this girl's going to kick your ass if you don't get out of the way, you prick." She can tell how ticked Grizzlepike got after she throws an insult back at him. She can see how he is clenching his teeth very hard as if he has the urge to take a pound at her.

"What was that?" Grizzlepike growled, leaning forward while bending one knee to look at Yasuko from her height.

Yuya saw how easily provoked Grizzlepike is right now. He looks dead serious at the girl. He didn't want anyone to harm Yasuko, so Yuya stands in front of Yasuko while holding her behind him to keep Grizzlepike away. "Back off, Grizzlepike!" he exclaimed.

The bully turns back to Yuya. "Oh, so now you're protecting some weakling now?" Grizzlepike stands straight while looking down at Yuya. "I still can't believe the son of a despicable coward beat someone like Strong Ishijima," he rebuked. "There's no way someone like you could ever beat a champion like him."

"Well, he did," Yasuko admitted. "Get used to it."

Grizzlepike turns to her. "You think you know anything about Yusho Sakaki? I can tell you, that man's a coward," he stated. "He chickened out on the biggest duel against Strong Ishjima."

"He's not dead, you asshole," Yasuko replied, "Now, if you don't mind, we outta get going, so do us a favor and beat it."

The more Yasuko talked strong to the boy; the angrier Grizzlepike gets from her offense. "Oh yeah? Who's gonna stop me? You? Or this chicken here?" he dared.

Yasuko is starting to get infuriated inside. She is feeling the urge to smack him in the appendix for his attitude. "You better get out of the way," she threatened, "or I'll _make_ you get out of my way."

"Oh really? You think you know Sakaki here well? No Sakaki or some snot-nose brat is worthy to be dueling in this stadium," Grizzlepike taunted. "Now, how about you step back or why not I showed you and your lousy cards where the exit is."

"How 'bout I do that for _you_ ," Yasuko growled. She is so having the urge to smack his face right about now if not for someone to be spotting them.

"Hey!" A female's voice calls off from the end of the hall. Everyone turns to the blond teenage girl with a bun on her left side of her head. "What the hell is this?!" she exclaimed. "This is a place of dueling, not a fighting ring!" She then points at Grizzlepike. "You there, get lost before I report you in for harassment."

Grizzlepike seems a little intimidated by her appearance. He half turns around and makes a small smug. "We were just having a little chat," he stated.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow. "Melania?" When Yasuko mentions the name, the three kids gasped in shock. They were looking at Melania with awe from their eyes. They were surprised, so surprised that their jaws might drop.

"Wait a minute!? Is that Melania Herman?" Tate addressed.

"No way!" Allie gasped. "It _is_ Melania Herman!"

"I can't believe that Melania Herman is here at the Arc League!" Frederick breathed, inhaling so much air to his lungs with overwhelming excitement.

Grizzlepike takes a step back away from Yasuko and Yuya and faces the girl with defiance. "Look, just because you were the winner of the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games three years ago doesn't mean that you can just come here and be the judge of everyone," he said.

Melania narrows her eyes. "I am the judge, jury, and executioner of dueling," she proclaimed. "Everyone has the right to duel, and seeing how disrespectful you are to your opponents is a red line I wouldn't cross."

Out of the blue, a big hand grabs hold of Grizzlepike's shoulder. "The girl's right, Grizzlepike." Yasuko knows the gruff voice from anywhere and jerks her head along with Yuya to see who the person was. To their surprise, it was Gongenzaka Strong, who was glaring at Grizzlepike with a hardened scowl. It's been a week since Yasuko last saw Gongenzaka. She thought that he wouldn't be able to make it in the Arc League Championship, but instead, he is here in person.

"Gongenzaka!" Yuya gasped.

Gongenzaka's eyes never left from looking at Grizzlepike. "I'd listen if I were you, now back off," he warned. "I'd be careful about what you say about my best friend."

Grizzlepike makes a scoff after seeing his former underclassman from his dojo. "Ha. You should learn to respect your senior," he mocked. "You must be thinking so big, Gongenzaka."

Yasuko can see the growing tensions that are coming in the area around her. It feels like the water was steaming out of everyone after getting worked up to see their rivals face to face. She can practically see sparks flying between Gongenzaka and Grizzlepike. When Yasuko looked back at Melania, she felt a sudden jolt of lighting piercing right out of her eyes and hits directly at Melania's forehead, indicating that the rivalry has skyrocketed.

Just before things can get intense, the loudspeakers have announced to the participants of the Arc League Championship. "The opening ceremony will kick off shortly! All duelists, please form a line behind your team's placard!"

The tension dies as soon as the inauguration starts. Gongenzaka lets go of Grizzlepike's shoulder while the senior glances at him. "Tough talk means squat to me," said Grizzlepike, breaking off from the group to head over to his team place. "Just don't lose until I can crush you."

And with that, Grizzlepike walks away, leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka to stare back at him.

"That guy gives skunks a bad name..." Gongenzaka grunted.

After the brief confrontation with Grizzlepike, Yuya turns to Gongenzaka with excitement to see his long friend after a week of watching Yasuko's duel.

"Glad to see you, Gongenzaka! I was worried you wouldn't make the cut!" Yuya admitted with his smile, showing how relieved he was to see his big friend.

"Heh! You can't keep a good Duelist down! Just before the registration deadline, I, the man Gongenzaka got just enough wins to make it!" Gong exclaimed.

"You should talk," said Yasuko. "I had to get my sixth match yesterday."

Gongenzaka was surprised that Yasuko is at the Maiami Stadium in person. "Yasuko," he said. "When did you get here?" he asked.

Yasuko gives Gongenzaka a look. "Like ten minutes ago," she stated. "And yes, Gong, I'm in this Arc League Championship too."

Gongenzaka makes a small gap in his mouth, surprised that Yasuko managed to get in the Arc League Championship. "So, I guess this means the whole gang is here then." Gongenzaka's mouth turns to form a very determined smile. "Looks like we're going to be making it to the finals."

"All right! Put 'er there, buddy!" Yuya exclaimed as he raised a hand, causing Gongenzaka to take the hand as the two best friends smirked at each other.

Yasuko and Melania's eyes connect after seeing after a week when they met. The two duelists are feeling the fire that is burning inside of their hearts. Yasuko turns back to find the others talking with Gongenzaka about his participation. She uses the time to take a step forward in front of Melania and speak with her in private.

"So, you've made it?" Melania asked, crossing her arms.

"I guess you could say that," Yasuko replied. "It looks like fate has come for us to a rematch."

Melania makes a smirk. "I impressed that you managed to get in this dueling tournament," she stated. "I thought you hate going into these kinds of events."

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "After quitting my dueling club and experiencing the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, I have gained a lot since the last time you backstabbed me for climbing in rank," she hissed. "So, I'm going to make this match between the two of us an ugly one."

Melania makes a small 'hmph' out of her mouth. "I'd be looking forward to it." She about-faces and walks away. "Until we meet in the semi-finals, you better not lose to anyone," Melania concluded before walking to be with her team.

Yasuko is feeling the fire coming from Melania and the atmosphere in the Arc League Championship. "Oh, don't worry, I won't lose," she avowed. "Not this time…"

* * *

With the start of the Arc League inauguration ceremony starting, the Maiami Stadium is going alive as ever with thousands of people watching the biggest duel tournament of the year. Every participant from different teams and organizations are waiting at the louche sector to hear their names being called.

Yasuko watches the big screen broadcasting live from the stadium where she saw various duelists from all both at home and overseas. She saw the students from the LDS marching down the stadium, including Sylvio, Julia, Hokuto, and Yabia, but what's most shocking is the duelist who is walking five students from behind the three LDS students she encountered from the You-Show Duel School.

Yasuko's mouth makes a small gape when she saw the duelist; Yuya and Zuzu gasped in shock when they saw the duelist with a purple torn trench coat too.

"What the hell?" Yasuko inquired. "Is that…"

"That guy?!" Yuya asked.

"He's working for Leo now!?" Zuzu exclaimed before she exchanged look at Yuya in confusion.

Yasuko is more curious to see the same teenage boy who attacked her a few weeks ago at the Maiami Stadium. She recalled something from last week. When she saw him the last time, she was confronting Yuto who was carrying a body that had the same purple trench coat on him. _"His name is Shun."_ Yuto's words ring back to her ears after seeing the same boy she encountered on tv.

"Shun…?" Yasuko wondered.

On-screen, more duelists from different schools were announced and walked forward in the opening. Up next was Mikisugi Dakoda, her bully. The next one was the one person that she is itching to take on. Upon seeing Melania Herman on screen, her eyes hardened after seeing the girl who beat her at the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games.

"Yasuko…" With her name being called, Yasuko turns her head to Zuzu and Yuya who were concern about something that was bothering them. "Is it true that you dueled that guy? Was he the one who attacked you?" Zuzu asked.

Yasuko blinks once when they refer to Shun. She assumes that Zuzu heard the attack from Yuya. "I'm pretty sure that it's him," she said. She looks forward at the entrance to the stadium. "That guy's name is Shun, and he's trouble."

Zuzu's eyes widened in shock. Yasuko had some prior meetings with the boy and didn't tell any of them. "Shun?" she repeated.

With the three little kids at the front, Yasuko is walking between Yuya and Zuzu as they approach the opening in the stadium. The view of thousands of people blares into her eardrums. Confetti sprinkles around them.

As Yasuko walks forward to join the other duelists at the center, she takes a glance over to the LDS VIP sector of the stadium. It was no surprise that she can see Henrietta and Declan Akaba sitting at the small sector that is reserved for someone like them. She could've sworn that the Akabas are all staring at the You-Show, specifically at her. Yasuko happens to spots another person sitting beside Declan at the LDS VIP sector. Yasuko cannot see who it was because the person was too small to see from her spot. She can only make out by the turquoise hoodie sweatshirt with a black-blue club underneath the hood. She wonders who that little person was.

The You-Show students line up between the other schools as they listen for the man announces to the participant and the audience.

"Ahem. Greetings, duelists. You have battled hard to get here. The fact that you stand before me is proof that you are the elite. And knowing in the coming days, you will face the challenges ahead with distinction and dignity. I hope you fuel fair and square with all your strength." The audience gives loud applause to the man as the speaking time goes to Nico Smiley.

"Now, one of our competitors will recite the duelist's oath," Nico announced, "and this year's honor goes to the representative of You-Show Duel School! Yuya Sakaki!"

From the moment Yuya hears his name, he panics in shock. "Eh?! Me?! What do you mean me?!" he gasped, pointing at himself.

"Recite the duelist's oath?" Zuzu repeated.

Yasuko raised an eyebrow. "Oh boy…" she said bluntly. "This isn't going to end well."

Yuya was caught off guard. It was out of the blue for the boy. He was so focused on his duels and watching Yasuko's duel that he didn't even know what the duelist's oath is. Not that he knows what it is. "Wait a second! This is a mistake! Nobody told me about this!" he said, only to be taken away from his group by two marshals.

He was thrown on stage, and the crowd thorns a series of giggles and laughs at him.

Yasuko closes her eyes and shakes her head. "This is gonna suck," she murmured.

Yuya gets back up and stands straighter. "Uh, and now for the oath," he stated, earning applause from the crowd. Yuya gets in front of the microphone and raises an arm. "Uh. Th-th-the d-duelist's oath of pair flay!" His outburst makes pretty much everyone except Yasuko and Shun fall in shock.

The girl is so annoyed that she slapped her face in huge disappointment as she shakes her head. "How…annoying…" Yasuko muttered under her breath, hoping to shield the gazes from everyone at the crowd over Yuya's mistake.

Yuya is spinning from his head to the eyes, rambling words that are trying to process the oath. "Uh…I…uh…" he stammered, sweating like crazy as the nervous feeling swells inside of him.

Zuzu calls to her friend to support him. "Stop freaking out, Yuya!" she yelled. "Pull yourself together! Everyone's watching!"

Yuya's eyes glance over to Zuzu who is calling out to him. He half-turns to everyone at You-Show until he stops at the last person. Yasuko. He was reminded of what would his father think right now and turns back to everyone at the stands. _"Everyone…"_ he thought. " _Make everyone smile."_ He thinks of his promise to make Yasuko smile and holds his pendant. After a pause, he breathes deeply before he begins with an oath of his own by spreading his arms wide to the audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Yuya announced proudly. "I apologize for that just now. I was asked to come up here and recite the duelist's oath, but since most of us know it by heart, I've decided to tell you something you don't know. The story of why I'm here instead.

"You probably know by now I'm the son of the duelist Yusho Sakaki. He's the world's greatest Entertainment Duelist. But as everyone knows, he suddenly vanished three years ago right before a duel started. Some kids used to tease me by saying I was a coward just like my father. I didn't want to let that defeat me, so I worked hard at Entertainment Dueling.

"But I still couldn't face my problems, and somewhere inside, I think I was running away from dueling. Until one day, I learned how to Pendulum Summon, and battled against powerful duelists, and gradually enjoyed dueling again. I still have a lot to learn and have a long journey ahead of me, but I'll never forget how to have fun along the way.

"I wanted to love dueling even more! And that's what we all love about dueling, and that's why we're all here! And someday, I'm going to become a great Dueltainer like my father was! I want to become a duelist that will make me, and everyone loves dueling! And I will do everything I can to not only make everyone love dueling, but I will make everyone smile!"

Yuya's speech shifts in the crowd and the first person to clap was Yasuko. After her comes Declan Akaba. Soon, everyone was starting to give a big round of applause for Yuya's oath.

"Excellent!" Nico announced. "Yuya's duelist's oath represents their determination! Take a bow, kiddo, you're a hit!" Yuya bows once before walking back got the group. "Now, I'll announce the first matchup! Duelists, please insert your registration cards into your duel disk!"

Yasuko picks in her back pocket and takes out a small identification card. "What are we supposed to do with this?" she asked.

"They'll keep track of us and see how we're doing," Zuzu replied, explaining the use of the ID cards.

Yasuko listened to Nico as he explained what the purposes of the ID cards. She starts to understand that the ID cards sent a signal to the computer system to randomly select the opponents for each participant and when one loses, another takes their place until it is only two of them.

"Okay then, let's get going." Yasuko inserts her card into her duel disk and waits to see who her opponent will be. She waits until the screen pops up, and it was decided that her first opponent is none other than Mikisugi Dakoda. Yasuko's eyes narrow at her opponent. "Well, this sucks," she stated. "And it's not until the next morning."

"Who's your opponent, Yasuko?" Yuya asked. Yasuko turns her screen over to show Yuya that her first opponent. He was shocked. "Mikisugi Dakoda!?" he gasped.

"If fate serves well, then this was bound to happen," said Yasuko.

"You too, huh?" Gongenzaka called from the left. Apparently, his opponent for tomorrow's duel is Gen 'Grizzlepike' Ankokugi and right before her match.

"Looks like it's our destiny to confront our past then," said Yasuko. She realizes that Yuya's opponent is Sylvio Sawatari the next day after her duel. Surprisingly, Zuzu's opponent is Julia Kotsu and today in the afternoon. Half of the You-Show students are dueling on the first day of the Arc League. Frederick has his opponent right after the ceremony. Allie is behind Frederick.

Tate faces to Sora. "What about you, Sora?" he asked.

"Tomorrow," Sora answered. "I'm dueling someone from the Leo Institute."

"A Leo duelist? Which one?" Yuya asked.

Sora reads over the name of the duelist that he is going to duel. "Shun…Obsidian." The three older students are surprised after hearing the name of Sora's opponent. "See for yourself." He turns his duel disk to show them that it was Shun.

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the face of Shun. "Well, you're officially screwed," she commented.

"Hey!" Sora protested. "Who said I was down for the count!"

Yasuko turns her head away. "You better prepare for the inevitable, Sora," she warned. Yasuko's eyes glance over to the duelist at the far right. She knows that Mikisugi is already eyeing on her the moment they were chosen to duel. Her eyes were focused at Shun as she said, "Seems like this is going to be a _long_ week."

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Alright readers, so here is the second arc of the story for this book. Now I did say I will tell you what you're going to be expecting of the protagonist's new deck, but the deck is called Odd-Eyes Spell Power Deck.**

 **The Odd-Eyes Spell Power Deck contains Odd-Eyes variants that goes for firepower and independent Spellcasters and Spellcasters that support Spell Counters for control.**

 **If you have already figured it out, then you'll probably know what you're expecting. The reason why I've chosen to make this deck is that while I do tend to keep the protagonist a rival to the other deuteragonist who uses an ace dragon monster, I felt that this would fit in the storyline perfectly with being a polar opposite. More cards will come soon later on, so you won't be seeing everything from this book. In case of custom OC cards, I will post it here in this section.**

 **Anyways, I hoped you'd all enjoyed your day so far, this story is going to get more interesting along the way, and I'm excited to see how this will go out. If you like what you have read so far, don't forget to make a comment on what you love, like, or hate, or a mixture of both, on this story, and don't forget to smile on your day.**


	31. Chapter 31: The Flames of Rigidities

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship: Chapter 31: The Flames of Rigidity_

* * *

After the Arc League Championship inauguration ceremony, the most significant event starts with various duels. The first was Frederick and his opponent Trevor.

Yasuko didn't feel like watching any of the three little kids' duel. As much as everyone wants her to, there are other things that she had to do. She needs time to think about Shun Obsidian. Why is Shun working for the Leo Institute? There are so many questions popping in her head that it's cramping her brain. She walks down the hallway to take the time to explore the new stadium that she does not know.

Most of the You-Show duelists are already watching Frederick's first duel in the Arc League, leaving her all to herself. As she walks on the second floor of the stadium, she was looking outside of the window to see the Youth dueling sector. Considering that it is not as big as the main arena, it's as big as a park.

Yasuko happens to come by and notice Henrietta in the hallway, looking out at the window of the kid sector. "Well, there's a surprise," she said, calling out to the woman. "After looking around this place, I never thought I get to see you again."

Henrietta turns up and finds Yasuko walking by, much to her surprise. As always, her professional business smile formed on her face to greet Yasuko. "Why, hello, Mrs. Yukihana," she addressed. "I'm so glad that you've made it to the stadium. I'd take it you're enjoying this competition?"

"For the record, I don't enjoy being in the big leagues myself," said Yasuko. Since Henrietta is the mother of Declan, maybe she knows who Shun is and why he is working for the Leo Institute. "By the way, Mrs. Akaba, can I ask you something?" Yasuko inquired.

"Why certainly," Henrietta complied, turning halfway to face the girl.

"Do you know, by any chance, who that that other guy was?" Yasuko asked.

Henrietta raised an eyebrow out of curiosity. "Other guy?" she questioned.

"Shun Obsidian. The guy with dark blueish hair wearing an oversized, purple trench coat," Yasuko described. "Ring any bells?"

Henrietta seems to shake her head with regret. "I'm sorry," she said, "I don't know much about this Shun Obsidian, but what I do know is that he's a transfer student from Iceland and that he's been studying at the Leo Institute for over a year."

Yasuko narrows her eyes slightly with suspicions. "Oh," she replied. "Really? What was his specialty?"

"Oh, I don't know," said Henrietta. "There are too many students to see which ones are studying based on their perspective, and Shun is a mysterious fellow. He keeps all to himself mostly."

"So, I see..." Yasuko turns to face the Youth sector of the tournament. From there, she can spot the rest of the You-Show students at the bottom after Frederick's first win. She then moves her eyes to gaze at Allie's next opponent. She was confused about who it was considering that the opponent has a turquoise hoodie over the head covered by a black, blue baseball cap. Even from a distance, Yasuko sports the child sporting a yellow and blue striped shirt and grey cargo shorts with blue sneakers.

 **DUEL:**

 **Allie Ayukawa (LP: 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Riley Akaba (LP: 4000)**

 **Turn 1: Allie (5x cards)**

Allie Normal Summons **Aquaactress Guppy (ATK 600/DEF 600).** She activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Aquarium Stage** , which prevents her WATER monsters from being destroyed by battle except by other WATER monsters. She then activates the Continuous Spell Card **Aquarium Set** which increases the ATK of all "Aquaactress" monsters on the field by 600

 **(Aquaactress Guppy: ATK 600** → **1200)**

Allie finally activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Aquarium Lighting,** which can double the ATK points of all Aquaactress monsters until the end of the Battle Phase when they battle another monster. Allie ends her turn as she Sets a card.

"It seems that your school is finally ready for action," said Henrietta.

"Like any of those kids I know have a chance to last two matches in this tournament," Yasuko proclaimed.

Henrietta raised an eyebrow with interest. "I see you don't have confidence in your classmates," she stated. "Aren't you a member of You-Show Duel School? You should be supportive of them."

Yasuko averts her gaze and turns her head. "I am, just not in a way like everyone else," she replied, turning back to the duel between Allie and the newcomer. "Why'd you do it?" she asked out of the blue.

Henrietta turns to the girl in surprise. "Do what?"

"Don't pretend like I don't know," Yasuko snapped. "Why'd you switched my opponent yesterday to duel someone from your school?" Her eyes turn back to the woman with a scowl. "I said I don't like anyone tampering with my business, and right after I won my fifth match, you and that bodyguard of yours came to my house to, as you would say, talk? What are you up to right now, Mrs. Akaba?"

Henrietta knows that the girl is smart enough to see through most deceptions but isn't smart enough to see what her real motive is. She has to be extra careful with the girl for now on. "Why I came to your place, you asked?" she began. "Well, for starters, I have a question of my own." Henrietta turns to looks down at the girl. "I've been wondering how someone like you, a stranger who just moved to this city from Tokyo with no prior experience to any duel schools, was able to perform a Pendulum Summon and acquire those cards of your own. Not to mention you harbor some extend to use Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon without anyone tutoring you," she said. "All of the Extra Deck Summons first came from the Leo Corporation, and other duel schools have incorporated them into their curriculum, yet you were able to do it at least two of them without any proper training." Her eyes seem to be giving suspicions regarding Yasuko and her abilities. "That's very difficult, even for an average Leo student can handle. It seems like you know a lot more than what we thought of ourselves."

Yasuko is sure that the woman was getting on to her deck's capabilities, but to be honest with herself, she had no idea how she knew the Extra Deck methods. Henrietta is right about one thing; Yasuko didn't have someone teaching her how to do one Extra Deck summon. It's like she knew them beforehand without knowing it. "I'll be honest with you, woman," she said, "I have no way of telling how I know Synchro, Fusion, or Xyz Summon, I just do."

Henrietta seems intrigued by Yasuko's answer. "So, then you don't know how you learned them?" she asked.

"Not really," Yasuko answered. "I just know them like they're the back of my hand."

"And the Pendulum Summon?" Henrietta enquired. "How is it that _you_ were able to do a successful Pendulum Summon, and acquire those Pendulum Cards?" Her eyes make them rove over with suspicions, focusing on anything that Yasuko has to know.

Like with the previous question, Yasuko shrugged. "I have no idea how I acquire Pendulum Cards, lady," she replied. "As for Pendulum Summon, all I did is simply replay the same way how Yuya and Declan did it, and just copied it like how I'm doing it instead." She turns back to watch the duel between the two children dueling each other. "I guess you could say that I have photographic memory."

Henrietta, who is even more curious about the girl, is making her usual business smile. "How interesting," she commented. "You are full of mysteries, Yasuko. You are just full of mysteries." Henrietta turns to the duel between Allie and her opponent.

The two females didn't say anything as the duel between Allie and the newcomer begins. From the look of the turquoise hoodie, Yasuko guesses that the person is probably the same one she saw at the VIP sector. She finally spoke to the woman. "Allie's opponent is a child from the LDS," she said. "Who's that kid?"

"My other child," Henrietta revealed.

Yasuko is shocked that Henrietta has a second child. She didn't hear or look upon anything relating to Henrietta having another child. Her eyes widened in surprise that the woman has another child. "What? Your other child?" she questioned.

Henrietta lets out a snort. "You may have known Declan through the Internet and news articles, but this one's a special case."

"I didn't know that you had another child," said Yasuko, looking at Riley. If Henrietta said it is right about Allie's opponent, then she would assume that, like Declan, Henrietta's younger child can do one of the three of the Extra Deck summoning methods.

"Of course, no one does," said Henrietta, looking at the duel. "It was only for Declan and me to know."

"Got a name?" Yasuko questioned.

"This one never had a name," Henrietta introduced. "But we call this one…Riley."

Yasuko turns to the woman back from the duel. "Riley? Riley Akaba?"

Henrietta didn't bother to look at Yasuko as she explains who the other child is. "We found Riley in a rumble of a house in a war-torn country after the conflict ended," she said. "And because of that, we adopted the child, and Riley is now a part of the family."

For the first time, Yasuko felt a sympathetic feeling inside. To think that the Akabas adopted a young child from a ravaged land of violence is a lot for Yasuko to take. She doesn't know what the child had seen in the country he was born in, but Yasuko can believe that the child is familiar with the feeling of being taken in. The more she stares at Riley, the more curious she is.

 **Turn 2: Riley (5x cards)**

Riley starts as he draws a card. For his first move, Riley activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Shutter Layer 1** , which allows Riley to target one monster that Allie controls and Special Summons it as a Normal Monster with the same name, Type, Attribute, Level, ATK, and DEF, but if the monster it targets leaves the field, then Layer 1 is destroyed too. She targets the guppy actress and Special Summons the spell as a copy of **Aquaactress Guppy Layer (ATK 600/DEF 600)** in Defense Position. Due to the effect of the continuous spell that Allie set up, it gains the same attack power as Allie's monster.

 **(Aquaactress Guppy Layer: ATK 600** → **1200)**

Once the actress copy is setup, Riley Sets a card that mimics Allie's last turn.

Yasuko and Henrietta watched the duel between Allie and Riley. The child seems to stumble at first because of his shyness and possibly a stage fright. Riley is having a hard time trying to get used to dueling in front of a crowd. As Yasuko gazes at Riley, she could've sworn that she is seeing a mirror reflection of her younger self back when she first entered a duel that was being watched by tons of people.

 **Turn 3: Allie (0x card)**

Like Riley, Yasuko had a hard time adjusting to being watched big crowd staring at her. She isn't sure if she should feel bad for the Riley because of the shyness, but she knows that Riley will soon overcome it because he is an Akaba.

Allie draws a card and Normal Summons **Aquaactress Tetra (ATK 300/DEF 300)**. Because the monster is an Aquaactress, it gains some ATK points due to the effect of Allie's spell.

 **(Aquaactress Tetra: ATK 300** → **900)**

Allie's original guppy actress attacks Riley's guppy doppelganger, in response, she activates the Action Spell Card: **Sunshine Smile** which increases the ATK points of her own until the end of the Battle Phase

 **(Aquaactress Guppy: ATK 1200** → **1600)**

Due to the effect of Aquarium Lighting, the ATK points on the original guppy actress doubles, and because Riley's spell is the same as the monster that Allie has, it also gains ATK points.

 **(Aquaactrss Guppy: 1600** → **3200)**

 **(Aquaactress Guppy Layer: 1200** → **2400)**

Due to Allie's guppy actress being more powerful than Riley's guppy actress, the monster is destroyed, inflicting damage to Riley.

 **(Riley: LP 4000** → **3200 LP)**

With Riley's field empty, Allie makes a direct attack with her tetra actress monster, inflicting more damage to Riley.

 **(Riley: LP 3200** → **2300 LP)**

Once Allie ends her turn, all of her monster's ATK points return to normal.

 **(Aquaactrss Guppy: 3200** → **1200)**

Yasuko may be underestimating the little kid because of Riley's shyness, but she knows that the little one can do more.

 **Turn 4: Riley (4x cards)**

Riley had drawn a card and activated a second Continuous Spell Card: **Shutter Layer 2,** which makes all cards that Allie controls on the field unaffected by her card effects. Since all of the card effects don't affect Allie's monsters anymore, their attack power has dropped dramatically from taking the fall.

 **(Aquaactress Guppy: ATK 1200** → **600)**

 **(Aquaactress Tetra: ATK 900** → **300)**

Yasuko obverses the match as Riley activates the second copy of his Continuous Spell Card: **Shuttle Layer 1,** which copies the monster that he targets to have it become the exact monster as a Normal monster. By copying the guppy actress, the spell card summons an **Aquaactress Guppy Layer (ATK 600/DEF 600)**. Since the effect of Allie's spell card backfires on her, only Riley's monster doppelganger gains the attack power.

 **(Aquaactress Guppy Layer: ATK 600** → **1200)**

Yasuko is impressed by how the role reverses back to Allie. At first, the little red-haired girl seemed to have the advantage, but instead, Riley manages to use the effect against Allie. Because of the first spell card that Riley made, all of Allie's cards are unaffected by her own.

"Smart move," Yasuko whispered.

It was Riley's turn to commence the battle, and the guppy duplicate attacks the original guppy actress, which triggers Allie's spell to double its attack power.

 **(Aquaactress Guppy Layer: ATK 1200** → **2400)**

Riley chooses to attack and destroy the tetra monster, inflicting more damage to Allie than what she did to him.

 **(Allie: LP 4000** → **1900)**

 **Turn 5: Allie (0x card)**

Yasuko and Henrietta watched the two little kids from their respective duel schools, reaching the highest point of the duel. Yasuko is intrigued to see how well-trained Riley is compared to the rest of the You-Show kids.

Allie draws to tribute her guppy actress to Tribute Summon **Aquaactress Arowana (ATK 2000/DEF 2000)**. Since the monster it was targeting left the field, Aquaactress Guppy Layer is destroyed. With Riley's field empty, Allie attacks directly with her arowana actress, but Riley activates the face-down Trap Card: **Instant Shutter** , which activates when an opponent's monster attacks directly and Special Summons it as a Normal Monster with the same name, Type, Attribute, Level, ATK, and DEF as the monster that it targeted. At the right timing, the trap card is Special Summoned as an **Aquaactress Arowana Shutter (ATK 2000/DEF 2000)**. Because Riley's trap monster is an Aquaactress, it gains 600 ATK

 **(Aquaactress Arowana Shutter: ATK 2000** → **2600)**

Allie activates her Trap Card: **Aqua Story – Urashima,** which banishes two "Aquaactress" monsters from her Graveyard to make the ATK points of one of her opponent's monsters 100 ATK points and prevent it from being changed by other card effects this turn. She banishes her guppy and tetra actresses and targets the arowana shutter

 **(Aquaactress Arowana Shutter: ATK 2600** → **100)**

With the attack power reversed, the original arowana actress destroys the arowana shutter

 **(Riley: LP 2300** → **400)**

 **Turn 6: Riley (4x cards)**

As soon as Riley looks up from the arena, possible to Henrietta, the child knows at the instant to never disappoint her. Like a puppet, Riley makes the final turn. Riley draws a card and Normal Summons **C/C Critical Eye (ATK 1400/DEF 1000)**. Riley then activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Montage Fusion,** which targets one monster on the opponent's side of the field and Fusion Summon using the Fusion Materials using the spell card as the required Fusion Material. Riley targets Allie's arowana actress to Fusion Summon **C/C/C Water Sword of Battle (ATK 2400/DEF 0)** in Attack Position.

Yasuko raised an eyebrow at the sight of Fusion Summon. " _What the…"_ Her mind was racing to ask Henrietta questions regarding the child she adopted. For such a young age, Riley master the art of Fusion Summon.

Henrietta can tell that Yasuko was surprised even if she wasn't looking at her. "Don't look surprised," she said. "Declan and I taught 'this little one everything we know."

Yasuko kept her eyes on Riley, looking utterly void of anything emotional. If Henrietta said that she taught Riley everything, then Yasuko can conclude that Riley knows every Extra Deck except for Pendulum so far.

"So, Riley knows Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon then?" she inquired. "It's like I'm looking at a mini version of your older son, Henrietta."

"Everything…except for Pendulum," Henrietta responded. "It's a new ability we have yet to harnessed." She turns her eyes away to glance at the girl again. "Doesn't seem like your little friends there are now in deep trouble?"

Yasuko can only conclude that Allie lost the duel against Riley, especially when the water sword gains ATK points for every other WATER monster on the field.

 **(C/C/C Water Sword of Battle: ATK 2400** → **4400)**

The water sword attacks and slices the arowana into pieces, effectively stomping over Allie and the rest of her life points.

 **(Allie: LP 1900** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Riley Akaba**

Yasuko narrows her eyes, focusing on Riley. "It's no surprise that this was about to happen. Allie lost the moment she faced someone who is an Akaba." And with that, she turns her body around and walks out of Henrietta's gaze. Even though she can feel the woman staring at her back, Yasuko ignores the intruding gaze of the woman and walks around the corner to disappear.

* * *

Yasuko is thinking back of how this tournament turned out to be. First, there was Shun Obsidian, the guy who attacked her weeks ago before her commitment to the Arc League. She only met him once, and already she could guess that Shun doesn't have any choice but to participate in the Arc League may be due to some prior connection to the attacks on the LDS people. She wonders if Yuto knows that his friend is being forced to take on the Arc League, and they were enemies.

The second was Henrietta talking about Riley. She said that Riley came from a war-torn country and that she adopted Riley into the family. Why though? She has to have a reason why she would take in a strange little kid in a random country to be a part of the family. Also, she never even got the chance to meet Leo Akaba. She knows that Leo and Henrietta are married and that Declan is the son of Leo Akaba, but she has yet to wonder where the man was.

When she was researching the Akabas, the recent photo of Leo was about five years ago and hasn't made any public appearance since then. Yasuko feels that the Akabas is shrouded with mysteries, and she has only started to scratch the surface.

After walking around to tour the stadium, she finds it no surprise that the big boy, Mikisugi Dakoda, is the last person to see in the day. He stands in her path. His arms crossed with the same smug look on his face that she sometimes sees.

Yasuko sighs heavily and scowls at him. "What do you want, Mikisugi? Can't you see that I am busy?" The girl hopes to get away from the boy, but no matter how much she wants to walk away from him, it would seem that her past has come back to her

Mikisugi's face turns serious. "Just to be clear, after you beat me in our last duel a few years ago, I was hoping that this is the day where I can finally beat you at your own game," he warned.

"You cheated me and took my Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, that was not the right move to make, Mikisugi," Yasuko snapped, not looking away from the boy who tormented her for a few years. "And as far as I remember, you lose to me fairly, but you claim that you want a rematch after I beat you five years ago."

Mikisugi's eyebrows scrutinized. "And I learned from that mistake," he said. "Because of you, everyone dueled me and proclaimed that I was a coward to be resetting the cards in my deck, and they always ended up beating me like I was just a chew toy," he retorted. "So, I trained harder than ever so that one day, I can finally beat you and your deck at your own game."

Yasuko narrowed her eyes, focusing on his face of anger. "Like I give a damn," she stated. "That was five years ago, Mikisugi. Just let it go."

Mikisugi's glare never wavered from looking down at Yasuko. "Let it go? How can I? You humiliated me in front of everyone at our old school, and do you know what I went through because of that? Don't think for once that I am the same Mikisugi from Horyuji Academy," he proclaimed, jabbing a thumb to himself. "What you're looking at is the new and improved Mikisugi Dakoda of the Grigori Duel School!" He then points at Yasuko's face. "And this time, I'm going to crush you like how you crushed me all those years ago."

Despite the glare that Mikisugi is making, Yasuko didn't seem bothered or intimidated by him. She was more relaxed than ever as she frowns at the bully. "Then you better have an extra pair of pants with you," she said firmly. "Because you are not the person that I want to beat, but since you stated that you're going to crush me, I'll show you something that I've been working on, Mikisugi Dakoda."

Mikisugi seems satisfied with the growing tensions between them. He stands down. "Then, until we meet, Yasuko Yukihana." And with that, the boy's shoulder pushed the girl out of her way and walked away from her.

Yasuko is feeling the fire inside of her gut and now hoping to get her duel against him underway and skip out on Zuzu's duel against Julia. Adjusting her gym bag, she walks around the stadium. Yasuko explores the food court sector, watch some scenes from different duels in different sectors like the Senior sector where Lightning Wolf is dueling.

As Yasuko walks in a hallway with little or few people, she happens to saw one person coming up to her. At first sight of Shun Obsidian, the fire inside of her rages even bigger. Perhaps the whole tournament has gotten her, as Shuzo would say, blood boiling. Her stone-cold blue iris glances at Shun's sharp, yellow-green eyes _._

The sight of him makes her face twisted with anger. Her rage is building as Shun comes closer to her.

Time seems to be moving slowly for both of them as they were walking. The footsteps clap to their ears like a hammer hitting a nail to wood. They didn't seem to notice each other at first, but Shun is cautious of who he encounters. He didn't seem to know her. Net yet anyways. When time resumes back to average speed, they walk past each other, but Yasuko called out, "Shun Obsidian."

As expected, upon hearing his name being called, Shun stops right on his tracks as Yasuko did the same, hoping him to listen to her say his name.

Their backs were facing each other, both of them refusing to turn and glance at each other. They were all standing still in the middle of the hallways. Shun is taller than Yasuko that she would have to stand on the tips of her toes to be on his shoulder elevation.

"What a coincidence that we would meet each other again, and here at this stadium," Yasuko said slowly, hoping to gain some attention from the boy. "After all, you _attacked_ me a few weeks ago for being an idiot to not realize I am not LDS. I'd say it's the perfect opportunity to kick your ass for the other day."

Yasuko can feel the sharp daggers coming from Shun even though he didn't turn his head around to face her. "You seriously think I didn't forget what happened back at that alley? That you snared me with that red cable of yours?" she persisted. "And you've infiltrated the Leo Institute to be undercover as a student for their school? That is _so_ not like you to be siding with the enemies unless you have to." She paused before asking him, "Now, out with it, what are you doing here, asshole?"

Yasuko waits patiently, expecting to either answer him or walk away. To her surprise, Shun responds with a very cold, but a threatening voice. "It's none of your business, girl," he answered.

Yasuko's eyes frown even further. "It is my business after you falsely accuse me of being LDS," she argued. "You shouldn't have pissed off someone you don't know; otherwise, they'll, one day, come back to get you." The air is thick with a strong aura between the two people. Shun and Yasuko are growing tenser inside as the conversation goes on. "I suspect that you came here because you have a mission to do, or rather, you were _forced_ to because someone made a deal with you."

"I came here at my own free will," Shun replied, straining his voice. "And like I said, it's none of your business. So, do me a favor and stay out of my way."

It's like Yasuko's talking to her mirror. Shun is displaying a lot of defiance to her. She is sure that Shun is keeping to himself. She will have to sneak herself to get to him. "Oh, so you say that I have no business in what the Akabas is planning? Or is this the work of maybe…Declan." From the moment she spoke of his name, Shun's shoulder tensed to the point where it was shaking a little bit.

"I bet he knows what you're after," said Yasuko. "So better tell me, what is that you were after when you attacked me?" Her eyes glance over her peripherals to the boy. "What are you doing here, and what are you trying to gain by being a lapdog for him?"

Yasuko is sure enough now that Shun's glancing back at her through his peripherals. He and Yasuko are now getting tensed after meeting each other. After a short pause, he said to her, "You better shut your mouth about this, cuz when I'm done with him, I'm going to finish what I started, girl."

Yasuko didn't expect him to end their conversation quickly, but then again, she was instead feeling fiercer than ever. She hopes to duel him and finish that duel they had, but since they're at the stadium and in a public space, it was clear that neither of them will have the chance as there are 'eyes' everywhere.

"Then God to Hell, you better be ready for the duel of your life, Shun Obsidian," Yasuko proclaimed. "And it's Yasuko Yukihana to you… _boy_." Her voice gives a low, ominous warning to splash Shun. With everything set, the two people walk away from each other. While doing so, Shun exchanges a scowling glance at the girl with her black vest jacket.

In return, Yasuko's frown pivots to be looking at Shun, directing at the eyes, saying that she will become the one who is going to beat the hell out of him.

* * *

 **Author Note:**

 **Alright, so here is the second chapter of the Arc League, and it's not much. Just a break from the duels before proceeding on to the next one. I am feeling so tired right about now. So much work needs to be done and fingers cramped from typing. Anyways, there will be more future confrontations with Shun Obsidian and other characters, but not right now.**

 **I hoped that you readers are having an awesome day. Thank you for taking the time to read this story, and if you like it, then that is great! I love someone to read my work.** **Remembers readers, keep up on your day, and it will turn out okay! Bye! You all have a beautiful day!**


	32. Chapter 32: Zuzu's New Shine

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship — Chapter 32: Zuzu's New Shine; Zuzu Hiiragi vs. Julia Kotsu_

* * *

Despite Allie's loss in her first match, the You-Show students are still going strong with Zuzu Hiiragi up next for the match. She is feeling the fire burning inside her veins, ready to settle the score with Julia Kotsu. After getting beaten by Julia and her Fusion Summon, Zuzu is now prepared to face her opponent after training her Fusion Summon technique with Sora.

Zuzu is at the ground facing her opponent. The girl looks up at the stands to see if Yasuko is watching her. After searching up, Yasuko was spotted sitting between Yuya and Yoko.

Zuzu makes a beam and waves at Yasuko to let her know that she is going to show her the new and improved deck that she's been training on for the last month. In response, Yasuko waves back at her. Zuzu is grateful that Yasuko is showing some support for her. She turns to gaze at Julia from across the arena, the girl's face gets serious and enters the stadium.

"Break a deck, Zuzu!" Allie cheered.

"I'm expecting you duel that will give me the shivers!" Frederick called.

"Steal the spotlight, Zuzu!" Yuya cheered to his childhood friend.

Zuzu and Julia then come to the center to face each other. Despite seeing her rival back and ready for a rematch, Zuzu has questions regarding the one person who she is curious to know. " _I don't get it,"_ Zuzu mentally thought to herself. " _When Shun first challenged Julia to a duel, she had no idea who he was. However…"_ She recalled when Julia told her that Shun was at the Leo Institute for a year and that he was at her linguistic class. " _Why did she change her tune? What's going on?"_

Julia makes a smirk out her corners of the mouth. "Your eyes are clouded."

Zuzu felt like a ten-pound weight just dropped on her head after Julia's comment. "Don't count on it, Julia!" she exclaimed. "I lost the last time because I was worried that Yuya was Yuto! I've been training hard ever since you beat me, and now I'm here to even the score!"

Zuzu then looks over to Julia with a scowl while pointing at her. "I'm not the same duelist as the last time!" she claimed. "So, you better be careful of who you underestimate, Julia! I'm a whole new different duelist in this duel!"

Julia's smirk never leaves her face, staring at Zuzu's eyes. "Alright then, I'll give you a chance, though I doubt anything has changed."

The face of Nico Smiley pops up on the screen. "Hello, and thanks for waiting, everyone!" he announced. "For today's batch is the two damsels as You-Show's bold and brashly Zuzu Hiiragi and her rival, Julia Kotsu, representing the Leo Institute, the most prestigious school with the most entrants in this tournament! Their match is about to begin!"

Small like pixie holograms fly around to begin the match for the You-Show.

"Yeah! My daughter rules!" Shuzo cheered. "I'm all fired up!"

"You show her who's boss!" Yuya exclaimed. "Get your revenge!"

"Go, Zuzu!" The three kids cheered together.

Yasuko stays quiet and observed how the duel would turn out from the previous match between Zuzu and Julia. At first, Zuzu was weak because of her lack of concentration or the cards and combos that she makes. She wonders how strong that Zuzu has progressed from her last duel in the You-Show Duel School. _"Let's see how much you've improved, Zuzu Hiiragi,"_ she thought. She looks up at the giant hologram of the Action Card that is in a sphere made of random cards.

"Now, the Action Field Spell for this stud fest will be randomly selected by the stadium ARC system, and the luck card is…" The Action Card spins fast until it stops where the sphere pops to reveal the Action Field, **Infinite Bridge**. "Oh boy, let's hope these girls don't have vertigo, folks, cuz this contest is about to take them high in the sky! Action Field Spell, Infinite Bridge activates!"

The ARC system turns on as the lights transform the black arena into an endless walkway of bridges with red railings.

Zuzu and Julia are standing at opposite pathways, facing each other.

The look of the field makes Yasuko believe that it is a highway. "If you take one false step, you'll fall into hell," Nico warned. In this tension-filled field, which of those two Junior flower buds will fully bloom?" With each duelist ready, they can now begin the duel.

"The duelists meet at the battlefield!" Zuzu chanted.

"Along with their monsters, they'll kick the earth and fly in the sky…" Julia sang.

"…To move around the field!" Zuzu added.

"Witness the greatest evolution of dueling!" They chorused together. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Zuzu Hiiragi: LP 4000**

 _ **vs**_

 **Julia Kotsu: LP 4000**

" _ **DUEL!**_ _"_

The Action Card bubble bursts with multiple cards, raining down on the arena. They each draw five cards from their decks as they can now get on with the duel. Zuzu is determined to get past Julia as she is the barrier that stands between her and the next match.

 **Turn 1: Julia (5x cards)**

"I'll go first!" Julia declared as she draws a card from her hand and activates the Spell Card: **Gem-Knight Fusion**. "I'm activating the Spell Card, Gem-Knight Fusion! This card let me Fusion one Gem-Knight from my Extra Deck using the two Gem-Knight monsters that are in my hand or field!"

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the sight of the Spell card. " _I see…Julia's pulling off the same move she did back at the You-Show,"_ she thought. " _I bet Zuzu probably knows about it by now."_ She then looks over to Zuzu's side of the bridge.

As expected, the melodious duelist was looking at the spell card with familiarity. " _Julia's not wasting time,"_ Zuzu said to herself in her head. " _She's fusing her cards in her hand like how she did in our last duel."_

Julia takes out three of her Gem-Knight monsters: **Gem-Knight Sapphire** , **Gem-Knight Crystal** , and **Gem-Knight Garnet** , in her hand. "Feast your eyes on this! I fuse my three Gem-Knights: Sapphire, Crystal, and Garnet to Fusion Summon!" Up in the air are three gemstone knights, one made of sapphire, crystal, and garnet to be swallowed into the red and blue vortex in the air.

" _Solid Blue Will! Red Truth! Glass Eye! Merge into the light and shine brightly as you become one! I_ _ **Fusion Summon!**_ _Appear, the supreme radiance who illuminates everything! Level 9! Gem-Knight Master Diamond!"_ Julia chanted before she Fusion Summon **Gem-Knight Master Diamond (ATK 2900/DEF 2500)** in Attack Position. The colossal knight decorated with gemstones on his armor and massive sword appears on Julia's field, with the knight stabbing his sword in the ground, standing ready.

Zuzu narrows her eyes at the colossal Gem-knight monster who beat her in the last duel. She is aware of its abilities and how powerful it is. She must be on her toes when she is dealing with Julia's top monster. "Bringing out your heavy hitter right away, huh?" Zuzu questioned, hearing herself a small chuckle from Julia.

"It's a cut above the rest. Why wouldn't I?" Julia inquired. "Master Diamond gains 100 ATK points for every 'Gem' monster that are in my graveyard."

Yasuko's eyes train the sight of the colossal gem-knight monster that is in her field. "And since there are three 'Gem' monsters in her graveyard…" she explained. "That monster gains 300 ATK points."

Yuya nodded. "She's taking advantage of the three knights that she just fused," he said.

"Gongenzaka doesn't want to admit it, but that monster is shining brighter with the extra 300 ATK points," Gongenzaka agreed.

The three mirages of the previous gem-knight monsters appear in the air before being sucked into the big diamond on the chest to boost up the colossal diamond knight's attack points

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 2900** → **3200)**

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn," she concluded as Julia Sets a card.

She points at Zuzu. "Now, show me that you have changed," she dared. "I've been hoping you'll show a little _improvement_ since our last duel. You'll probably disappoint me, so try to keep this close."

 **Turn 2: Zuzu (5x cards)**

Now that her turn is coming, Zuzu prepares herself to show how much she has improved. "It's my turn!" she stated. Briefly, Zuzu takes a glance over Sora. The candy boy seems to notice her stare and gives the nod to let her know that she is ready. "I draw!" Zuzu draws a card from her deck.

She takes out one card and activates the Spell Card: **Polymerization**. "I activate the Spell, Polymerization!" she declared.

Upon seeing the Fusion spell card, Julia was taken back by the sudden appearance of the spell card. "Polymerization?" she gasped.

"That's right," Zuzu replied. "I'm going to beat you in your own game!"

"Whoa! Hiiragi is also Fusion Summoning!" Nico Smiley announced in the loudspeaker, full of excitement.

Zuzu takes two monsters that are in her hand: **Sonata the Melodious Diva** , and **Elegy, the Melodious Diva**. Zuzu stands with her both hands on her chest before spreading them wide to let the melodious angelic maiden with light pink skin and green hair mixed with blue, and the second musical damsel with olive-green skin and hair who wears a purple dress skirt and shirt flank her.

"I fuse Sonata, the Melodious Diva and Elegy, the Melodious Diva!" Zuzu stated, clapping her hands together as if she was combining them physically. The two maidens are consumed by the swirling vortex of blue and red mixing the two monsters together to create Zuzu's new monster.

" _Let your singing voices and key of notes flow through! With the guidance of the baton, gather your power! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _! Now come here to the stage! Schuberta the Melodious Maestra!"_ Zuzu chanted before she Fusion Summons her new monster, **Schuberta the Melodious Maestra (ATK 2400/DEF 2000)**. The sight of Zuzu's unique monster is breathtaking for everyone at the Maiami Stadium. The melodious monster that Zuzu has is a female orchestra donned in a red and dark dress with her long orange hair flowing behind holding a music baton.

Yasuko has to admit it in her head; Zuzu has improved within the span of a month. She is surprised to see Zuzu's first Fusion Summon. "Now, the real show begins," she muttered.

"It's Zuzu's Fusion monster!" Allie cheered.

"It's giving me the shivers!" Frederick quivered.

"Bravo Zuzu!" Shuzo cheered, who was practically streaming tears with joy. "Use that creativity to crush the competition!"

Zuzu throws her hand to Julia. "I activate Schuberta's special effect!" she declared. "Once per turn, Schuberta can banish all the cards that were used to summon a Fusion monster in the graveyard!"

Julia gasped in shock when she heard her opponent loud and clear as Zuzu continued, "And that means your gem collection is about to get smaller! Since you Fusion Summoned Master Diamond, I banish Sapphire, Crystal, Garnet, and Gem-Knight Fusion!" Schuberta waves her baton like she was playing in an orchestra as the four cards that are in Julia's graveyard: **Gem-Knight Sapphie** , **Gem-Knight Crystal** , **Gem-Knight Garnet** , and the Spell Card: **Gem-Knight Fusion** , are banished from the duel. "Chorus Break!"

Yasuko is impressed that Zuzu learned from her last duel and managed to pull away Julia's game strategy. "Looks like Zuzu's improved her game," she commented.

"Yeah," Yuya agreed. "And since three of Julia's monsters are not in her graveyard, that means Master Diamond loses 300 ATK points!"

 **(Gem-Knight Master Diamond: ATK 3200** → **2900)**

Zuzu wasn't done with her move just yet as she makes her second phase. "And during the turn, Schuberta gains 200 ATK points for every banished card," she added.

"And since that was four cards," Yasuko clarified. "That means Schuberta gains 800 ATK points." The female orchestra monster gains a boost due to its effect.

 **(Schuberta, the Melodious Maestra: ATK 2400** → **3200)**

"She lowered her opponent's attack points while her monster gains 800 ATK points!" Tate exclaimed, getting more excited. "I don't know what Zuzu had for breakfast this morning, but I'm having mine right before my next duel!"

Sora pulls his lollipop from his mouth to explain something more. "She's even better than you think," he said, catching the three little kids' attention. "Remember when the Spell Card that Julia used to Fusion Summon? That card can return to her hand from the graveyard if she banished one Gem-Knight monster that is in her graveyard."

Yasuko can hear Sora from her seat loud and clear as she makes an entry of her explanation. "Basically, what Zuzu did is cut out Julia's resources to Fusion Summon, and since Zuzu banished all four of those cards, Julia cannot do them," she elucidated, giving a tone of boredom as she knows it.

Sora pops his head over Gongenzaka to gives Yasuko a poker-faced gaze. "You really had to kill the moment for me, didn't you?" he inquired.

Yasuko turns her head away. "I'm just explaining it clearly to the three triplets," she said, ignoring Sora's pouty face.

Zuzu swings an arm forward to Julia. "Now, battle!" she declared. "Schueberta, attack Master Diamond!" The female orchestra angel's hair flares up like fire and swings her baton as if she was playing a melody. "Sonic Serener!" Schuberta's music note design on her dress glows red and flares out to send a pulsing sonic noise.

Julia tries to flee with her master diamond, but the attack was approaching fast, and the girl jumps out of the way for the red sonic pulse to hit and destroy master diamond, inflicting damage to Julia

 **(Julia: LP 4000** → **3700)**

Julia lands on a lower bridge, glaring up to Zuzu. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Zuzu Sets two cards. "And now Schuberta's ATK points return to normal!"

 **(Schuberta the Melodious Maestra: ATK 3200** → **2400)**

 **Turn 3: Julia (0x card)**

Julia stands up and makes her move. "It's my turn," she said. "I draw!" She draws a card from her deck and smirks after seeing that she draws a Continuous Spell Card: **Brilliant Fusion**.

Julia looks up at Zuzu. "I'm surprised that you're using Fusion, that's adorable," she commented. "You think you can do Fusion-to-Fusion with me—" she flaps her long black hair back, "—But it's painfully clear that you're nowhere near in my level and neither at Yasuko's."

Julia bows her head down to think about her experience with her duel against Yasuko and seeing the Action Duel among the crowd. "I've dueled her once," Julia stated. "Yasuko is a Duelist of Unknown. Even I can't use a Synchro monster to Fusion Summon a monster." She then looked back up to Zuzu and asked, "What makes you think you are as good as I am?"

Zuzu is feeling insulted, annoyed about how Julia is still underestimating her. "Stop acting so tough!" she rebuked. "Indeed, I'm not on Yasuko's level, but what matters to me the most is to surpass my previous one." She points at Julia. "You only have one card in your hand. That's not enough to Fusion Summon."

Yasuko's eyes move over to Zuzu and her monster. " _Oh, believe me, Zuzu,"_ she thought. " _Don't get ahead of yourself_." After her experience dueling Julia, Yasuko knows that she still has the one card that is in her deck to allow her to make the Fusion Summon.

Julia gives her a smirk. "Oh, you are so naïve," she boasted. "I activate the Spell; Brilliant Fusion!" She activates the card that she drew. "This card lets me use the monsters that are in my deck to Fusion Summon a Gem-Knight!"

After the spell card was glowing, Zuzu is shocked that Julia can Fusion Summon using monsters that are in her deck. "You can Fusion Summon monsters that are in your deck?" she gasped, terrified of what Julia is about to do next.

Three cards from Julia's deck pops out, and the girl shows Zuzu her monsters: **Gem-Knight Alexandrite** , **G** **em-Knight Emerald** , and **Gem-Knight Obsidian**. "I take three cards," said Julia. "Gem-Knight Alexandrite, Emerald, and Obsidian!"

Yuya was practically at the edge of his seat as he watches the duel. "No way! She can select and fuse three monsters from her deck without having to summon them first?!" he exclaimed. "Julia found a way to Fusion Summon! It's unreal how nothing fazes her!"

Sora was impressed with the move as well. "Yeah, I wonder what other tricks she's got up in her deck," he said. "That girl is better than I thought."

Yasuko had to agree with Sora. "Yep," she added. "This is the results you get after you enrolled in an LDS."

In the air, above Julia, are three Gem-Knight monsters made of emerald, obsidian, and alexandrite. They join together as they are sucked into the swirling vortex.

" _Gem with facets of day and night! Brilliant emerald of good fortune! Sharp jet-black darkness! In a whirlpool of light, combine to bring forth a new dazzling radiance_! _**I Fusion Summon!**_ _This is my true ace! Dazzling lady! Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond!"_ Julia Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond (ATK 3400/DEF 2000)**. The monster that Julia summoned is like a female counterpart of the master diamond monster with only slim khaki armor decorated with diamonds brandishing her sword as the red cape flies back.

"Unfortunately, when Brilliant Fusion Special Summoned a monster, its ATK and DEF points go to 0," Julia explained.

Much to the other's surprise, the attack and defense points dropped after lady diamond was summoned.

 **(Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond: ATK 3400/DEF 2000** → **ATK 0/DEF 0)**

"Zero?" Gongenzaka inquired.

"Don't let up just yet, Gong," said Yasuko. "She can still have a fighting chance."

"But by sending one Spell card from my hand to the graveyard, it gets its original points back until my next turn! So, I better start finding one!" And with that, Julia starts running down the bridge to find an Action Card to save her monster. Zuzu starts running behind as she tries to catch up with the girl.

Allie raises an eyebrow. "What are they having a race for?" she asked.

"To get an Action Card!" Yuya replied, realizing what the spell card effect will do for Julia if she gets one.

"Julia needs an Action Spell Card to have her monster regain all of its original ATK and DEF points that her Lady Diamond had lost; otherwise she's worthless against Schuberta," Yasuko explained.

The two girls race against each other to find any Action Cards lying on the ground. Julia happens to spot one floating a green plate by the pole.

"That Action Card is mine, Julia," Zuzu called. "And to make sure of that, I activate the Trap, Musical Mayhem!" She flips up her Trap Card: **Musical Mayhem**. "You take 800 points of damage for every 'Melodious' monster that are on my field!" The trap card flows out a green aurora in the sky. It creates a storm before it shoots out a green lightning bolt to strike. Julia reacts quickly and jumps herself over the edge despite taking the damage.

 **(Julia: LP 3700** → **2900)**

Julia refocuses on her objective and grabs hold of the green pole. Using the momentum, she spins herself around and swipes the Action Card before landing on the bridge.

"Incredible!" Nico announced. "What a stupendous move! No wonder that she is LDS' elite!"

Zuzu stops abruptly before pivoting around to get away from Julia as she recovers from her stunt.

"I send the Action Spell Card to the graveyard so that Brilliant Lady Diamond can regain all of her lost points until my next turn!" By discarding her Action Spell Card, **Evasion** , the lady diamond monster gets back all the attack and defense points.

 **(Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond: ATK 0/DEF 0** → **ATK** **3400/DEF 2000)**

"Let's battle!" Julia declared. "Lady Brilliant Diamond, attack Schuberta!" The lady diamond makes her way to fly and attack Schuberta. The female orchestra monster fires an aqua blue pulse to the monster, but the lady diamond slices through with her sword. In the blink of an eye, the monster slices across Schuberta in half and destroys her.

Zuzu was send flying with a loud scream off the bridge and into the opening.

"Zuzu!" Yuya cried, looking at his childhood friend in fear.

As Zuzu was send flying, she regains his bearings together and latches onto the railing before she can even fall into the seemingly bottomless world.

 **(Zuzu: LP 4000** → **3000)**

"That was close!" Nico announced, calling in relief that the duelist managed to save herself. "Hiiragi manages to grab the rail before she would've been send falling!"

Yasuko narrows her eyes, gazing at her classmate with disappointment. _"Is this all the results that your training has got, Zuzu?"_ she thought.

Zuzu climbs back up and swings herself to get over the rail and on solid ground. She turns around to stare at her opponent and the lady diamond. "You said you've been training hard since our last duel, but from what I could tell, I'd say you need a lot more practice," Julia rebuked. "Do you now understand the differences in our skills? I end my turn."

 **Turn 4: Zuzu (1x card)**

Zuzu looks down at her duel disk and places a finger on her deck. "My turn!" She draws a card from her deck.

"And I play the Spell, Cards from the Sky!" Zuzu activates the Spell Card: **Cards from the Sky**. "This card lets me banish one Fairy-type monster from my hand to draw two cards!" Zuzu banishes her **Solo, the Melodious Songstress** and places her fingers on her deck again. _"If Julia keeps getting more Action Cards, I'll be playing in from behind for the rest of the duel! I have to think of a way to stop her."_ Swiftly _,_ Zuzu draws two cards.

She takes a look at them and notices that both of them are Trap cards that may give her an edge over the duel. She takes a glance at the stands, someone right between Yoko and Yuya. Her eyes didn't look away from Yasuko's gaze. She was expecting her to make some improvements.

Zuzu recalls every duel that Yasuko did. Out of all the duels that she saw, none of them got her worked up than the day when Yasuko duel Yuya. She can do a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum Summon, and it's getting her mind going on in her head.

The sight of Yasuko and her unwavering face in a duel is filling her heart with determination. Zuzu wants to get on Yasuko's level for the Arc League. _"Yasuko, I'm going to show you how much I've gotten better than what I'm used to be,"_ she thought.

"I set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Zuzu Sets two cards.

To Julia, Zuzu appears to be fortifying her last-ditch defense against her. "Really? That's it?" Julia scoffed. "You'll never beat me just by playing it safe."

To Zuzu, she was already working on a plan to counter the Fusion duelist. " _You know what, Julia? I think I'm not playing it safe. I've already figured out your game strategy and what you're going to do next,"_ she thought. " _And if I'm wrong, then I'm done for."_

Zuzu takes a brief moment to look over to Yasuko. Even from a distance, she can see how intrigued that Yasuko is after her last move.

The three kids gasped in shock that Zuzu didn't set a monster, but instead two face-down cards. "What?" Tate and Allie chorused.

"Is that all that Zuzu can do for this turn?" Frederick inquired, getting more worried about what Zuzu is thinking.

"No need to fret, Freddy-o-boy," Sora reassured happily. "Sure, Julia is a strong opponent, but Zuzu should be able to survive this because I taught her how to counter Fusion duelists."

Yasuko remains silent, watching how Zuzu is putting Set cards instead of monsters. " _Just what are you planning, Zuzu,"_ she thought.

 **Turn 5: Julia (0x card)**

Julia starts running across the bridge to find herself an Action Card. "It's my turn again!" Julia draws a card from her deck.

"During my Standby Phase, due to Brilliant Fusion's effect, my Lady Brilliant Diamond's ATK and DEF points all reduce to 0!" Because of her spell card's effect, the lady diamond is weaker than before.

 **(Gem-Knight Lady Brilliant Diamond: ATK 3400/DEF 2000** → **ATK 0/DEF 0)**

Julia and Zuzu race each other again to get another Action Card that is in the opening. Zuzu is putting it all.

"You need another Action Card, but I'll get to it first!" Zuzu called.

"Dream on!" Julia rebuked as she Normal Summons **Crystal Rose (ATK 500/DEF 500)**. "I'll stop you! I summon Crystal Rose!" From a portal comes a rose plant made of entirely crystal. "Crystal Rose can replace a monster that is needed for a Fusion Summon! And I treat my Crystal Rose as Gem-Knight Lazuli!" The rose crystal transforms into a mirage of a tourmaline knight.

"I activate Brilliant Lady Diamond's effect!" Julia added. "I can fuse by sending one monster on my field that's needed for a Fusion Summon to the graveyard." The lady diamond brings up two hands on her chest to let three diamonds float out.

Zuzu is surprised that Julia can Fusion Summon using only one monster. "You only need one monster to Fusion Summon?" she inquired.

"Yes," Julia confirmed. "This is Brilliant Lady Diamond's power! I'm not playing you on _every_ level!" The tourmaline mirage knight floats up in the air along with three diamonds to the swirling vortex of blue and red to fuse them.

"I send Crystal Rose that's treated as Gem-Knight Lazuli to Fusion Summon Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli! Grind Fusion! Appear, the lady of light! Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli!" Julia Fusion Summons **Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli (ATK 2400/DEF 1000)**. From out of the vortex is a gem priestess with blue-purple armor and a sapphire gem at the chest.

"I activate Lady Lapis Lazuli's special effect!" Julia declared. "Once per turn, I can send a monster with the same name as Lady Lapis Lazuli from the Extra Deck to the graveyard to inflict damage to half of her ATK points plus 100 for every monster that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck!" The second copy of Julia's **Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli** from her Extra Deck to the graveyard.

"And since there are two monsters that were Special Summoned from the Extra Deck, you take damage equal to half of her ATK points plus 200, giving you a total of 1400 points of damage!" The lady lapis brings up two hands and shoots an orb straight for Zuzu.

She halts and braces herself as the orb impacts her to send her flying to the ground after taking damage with a painful cry.

 **(Zuzu: LP 3000** → **1500)**

With Zuzu temporarily down, Julia moves in and swipes an Action Card easily.

To the disappointment of the others, they are sure that Julia is going to strike back.

"Ah, perfect," Tate whined. "Not again.

"Julia is two for two," said Allie.

Julia recovers and looks up back up to Zuzu as she discards the Action Spell Card: **Miracle**. "As you can see, I send the Action Card to the graveyard to return Lady Brilliant Diamond's points to normal," she said, restoring her monster to its original power.

 **(Gem-Knight Brilliant Lady Diamond: ATK 0/DEF 0** → **ATK** **3400/DEF 2000)**

Yuya narrows his eyes at the sight of the lady diamond monster regaining the lost points. "It feels like I've been to this movie before," he commented.

"Yeah," Yasuko agreed. "And it sucked in the end."

"Not so fast!" Zuzu protested. "I activate the Trap, Miraculous Descent!" The Continuous Trap Card: **Miraculous Descent** , flips up to reveal itself. "This trap card lets me Special Summon one banished Fairy-type monster to the field!"

Julia was a bit surprised that Zuzu is making her last stand defense against her. "What?" she inquired.

"And now that I have one, I can Special Summon Solo, the Melodious Songstress!" Due to the effect of her Trap card, the monster that Zuzu Special Summoned is **Solo, the Melodious Songstress (ATK 1600/DEF 1100)** in Defense Position. The monster is another angelic melodious maiden with a Scandinavian short dress and a Viking helmet.

Julia had to let out a snort of amusement. "Really," she commented. "I thought you would've shown some skill, but it seems like you've shown not a lot since our last duel."

Zuzu narrows her eyes at Julia. "What did you expect?" she inquired. "I've watched someone who never stops until she gets where she's is at, and I wasn't going to fall back behind on this tournament either." Her eyes rove back to the stands where Yasuko is sitting. The girl's arms are crossed, but her gaze is telling her to keep on going and never stop until she beats Julia.

Julia seems satisfied with how the match turns out to be. She thought that Zuzu would be the same one, but she has shown a lot of development. "Alright then!" she declared. "Let's battle! Lady Lapis, attack Solo!"

The lady lapis makes a glowing blue orb from her sapphire diamond and destroyed the solo melodious at the instant, destroying her in the process. The shockwave makes Zuzu fall over after she attempts to run away from the battle. She rolls over on the bridge before she stops with her stance in the crouch position.

"I'm activating Solo's special effect!" Zuzu exclaimed. "When this card is destroyed in battle, I can Special Summon a Melodious monster from my deck!" A card pops out for Zuzu to Special Summon **Shopina, the Melodious Maestra (ATK 2300/DEF 1700)** in Defense Position. "And I choose to Special Summon Shopina, the Melodious Maestra!" On her field is an angelic monster with a purple Victorian and light turquoise hairstyle as her lavender skin flicks off a keyboard mirage.

"That won't save you!" Julia rebuked. "Lady Brilliant Diamond, attack Shopina!" The lady diamond makes a fast flight over to Shopina. The lavender melodious monster gives off a note that shoots a song note over to the lady diamond, but the monster slashes right through before slicing Shopina, destroying her.

Zuzu flips up her face-down Trap Card: **Fusion Cycle**. "I activate the Trap; Fusion Cycle!" she declared. "I can Special Summon one monster that was used to Fusion Summon this turn from the graveyard to my field in Attack Position!"

"From my graveyard?" Julia cried in shock.

The trap card glows as Zuzu continues with her move. "I summon Crystal Rose!" Out of the portal in front of the Trap Card is the same rose crystal plant that Julia used in her last turn: **Crystal Rose (ATK 500/DEF 500)** in Attack Position.

Julia is very impressed with Zuzu now. After summoning her two monsters to her field to defend herself, Zuzu manages to get a third monster on her field. She is thinking about how competitive their match is right about now.

"Seems that you've caught a lucky break," Julia commented. "First, you special summoned your own monsters, and now you've summoned my monster on your field." Her eyes stare at Zuzu like she is on top. "If you haven't used your trap card to special summon your Solo, then you would've already lost," she said. "And on top of that, you have a trap card to use so that you can get another monster to defend yourself—" Julia lets a scoff, "—You're so lucky that you did."

"No, Julia," Zuzu protested. "Luck had nothing to do with it; in fact, I _predicted_ that you were going to do that."

Julia blinks in surprise as Zuzu continued on. "You have pride as a Fusion summoner, and that's why I played Miraculous Descent in the first place. You try to take me down with your Fusion monsters head-on, and when you destroyed my last monster, I played Fusion Cycle to get one of yours."

Zuzu breathes in annoyance. "Oh, you're so predictable," she sighed. "You've played right in my hands, and out of this championship."

Even from the stands, Yasuko is thoroughly impressed with Zuzu's development. After the Yuya accusation incident, Zuzu was determined to get even stronger than before, and by learning Fusion Summon opened her mind. "Seems like Zuzu's done a whole lot better in self-improvement," Yasuko commented.

"Don't flatter yourself just because you survived," Julia argued. "Your knowledge of Fusion Summon is as worthless as that pathetic duel school of yours that hasn't entertain anyone in ages!" She then points at Zuzu. "Show me if you can do anything more than fighting back in vain! I end my turn!"

 **Turn 6: Zuzu (0x card)**

"I'll prove you wrong!" Zuzu retorted. "It's my turn!"

Zuzu was still in a crouching stance and rose back up with her headstrong. She places a hand on her deck and thinks for a momentarily. After working her way with Sora and through all the training, she is prepared to get serious.

"I…draw!" And with one swift swing of her arm, she draws a card so fast that you could see musical notes falling behind in a motion trail. The card she drew was a monster that will give her the win in the duel.

"I'll show you the new radiance of my deck!" Zuzu exclaimed. "I summon Soprano the Melodious Songtress!" Zuzu Normal Summons **Soprano the Melodious Songtress (ATK 1400/DEF 1400)**. On her side of the field is a different melodious maiden as she is light green-skinned with long red waist-length hair wearing purple battle armor and white long skirt underneath.

"In this performance, if my Soprano is being used to Fusion Summon, I can use her without using a Fusion Spell Card," said Zuzu.

"Is she going to fuse with my Crystal Rose?" Julia inquired. "Is that why you took my Crystal Rose?"

"Exactly," Zuzu confirmed. "Crystal Rose can be treated as another monster required for a Fusion Summon." The rose crystal shines brightly to transform into a mirage of Mozarta. "Due to Soprano the Melodious Maestra's special effect, I can fuse Soprano and Crystal Rose!" The two monsters float up above Zuzu as they are consumed by the swirling vortex of blue and yellow mixing together.

 _"Angel's song! Supreme genius! With the guidance of the baton, gather your power! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _! Now come here to the stage! Sing the song of victory! Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir!"_ Zuzu Fusion Summons **Bloom Diva the Melodious Choir (ATK 1000/DEF 2000)**.

The sight of the new Fusion monster that Zuzu has is breathtaking for the audiences. It is like the new monster was born from the flowers with the maiden having no pupils but crystal blue eyes, donned in a white dress with its sky-blue hair swaying upwards, wearing a pink scarf.

Yasuko raises an eyebrow. "That's amazing," she commented. "Looks like Zuzu's nailing her performance."

"And it's Zuzu's new monster," Yuya added.

"Now then, Bloom Diva, attack Lady Lapis Lazuli!" Zuzu declared, throwing her arm to the lady lapis priestess.

Yasuko can't help but raise an eyebrow even further. "What?" she inquired. "Does she have a plan for that?"

The bloom diva maiden springs up to confront the lady lapis priestess and sings loudly with a melody. The lady lapis monster makes a second orb from her sapphire gem and fires it like she is firing an energy ball. The blue aura sphere comes close to the bloom diva, but she repels with just the voice of her tone, causing the winds to pick up around her.

"Bloom Diva cannot be destroyed in battle by a monster that was Special Summoned," Zuzu explained. "You take battle damage instead of me, and your monster is destroyed!"

Julia inhales with shock in her chest as the bloom diva's voice turns into a whirlwind of green flower pedals that vaporizes the aura sphere through and blows Julia across the bridge until she is at the intersection. She screams after taking the damage.

 **(Julia: LP 2900** → **1500)**

"Amazing!" Allie exclaimed.

"That was cool times two!" Tate praised.

"I'm getting the shivers!" Frederick quivered.

Julia slowly gets up from the ground to glare at Zuzu. "How…dare you," she growled. As she gets up, her face was twisted back to a satisfied smile. "But it's going to cost you to downfall!" Julia flips up her face-down Trap Card: **Brilliant Spark**. "I activate the Trap, Brilliant Spark!" she exclaimed. "When a Gem-Knight monster on my field is destroyed, you take damage equal to its ATK points!" The lady lapis mirage reformed to shoot a blue laser at Zuzu.

"This is bad!" Gongenzaka exclaimed.

"Lady Lapis only has 2400 ATK points, and if that goes through—" Yasuko began.

"—then Zuzu will lose," Yuya finished.

"I activate my Trap!" Zuzu flips up her last face-down Trap Card: **Melodious Illusion**. "It negates the trap card that was activated during my Battle Phase, and one Melodious monster can make a second attack!" The blue laser beam is diverted to hit the trap card instead of Zuzu.

"Hooray! She did it!" Allie beamed.

"She's making a comeback," said Tate, happily excited for the outcome. "She has the upper hand again."

Frederick notices something on the field and points at Julia. "Or maybe not," he objected.

Julia uses the green pole to slide herself down to the Action Card that was in the opening. "Brilliant Spark's other effect!" she called. "I can send one Spell Card that is in my hand to the graveyard to negate the effects of one trap-negating card!"

Zuzu notices her opponent going for the Action Card. She climbs on up the red railing and prepares herself. She takes a deep breath and with one leap of faith, she jumps.

Yasuko is surprised that Zuzu is starting to dive down. After a brief tensed moment, Zuzu snagged the Action Card that was barely close to Julia as she dives to the black pit before her bloom diva flies in to catch the girl.

"Whoa! What a bold move! Zuzu Hiiragi caught the Action Card with a diving catch!" Nico announced wildly.

Zuzu and her bloom diva fly to the nearest ground level until the monster stops and gently drops her on solid ground. "That was nothing," she said. "We practice moves like that every day back at You-Show."

"No way!" Julia gasped, shocked at how boldness Zuzu was to take the risk of getting the Action Card that would've put her life in jeopardy. "You jumped down from that height? Are you crazy! If your diva was a second late, you would've been done for!"

Zuzu can't help but give the girl a small smile. "Oh, trust me, girl," she said. "I know crazy, and I learned a lot from a friend of mine."

Yasuko is sure that Zuzu was referring to her. She can swear that her eyebrows never lowered after seeing Zuzu's bold move. "And that's what it means to be in You-Show," Zuzu continued. "Become one with my monsters is a part of the You-Show Duel School experience."

The bloom diva floats back up in the air with pink lower petals swirling around her. "This is the end! Bloom Diva, attack Lady Brilliant Diamond!" The bloom diva maiden makes one last attack at the lady diamond.

The two females clash, but the bloom diva uses her power to blow a flower hurricane to destroy the monster and blow Julia away with all of her life points.

 **(Julia: LP 1500** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Zuzu Hiiragi**

Julia was left falling off the bridge, screaming out her lungs as she descends down.

"Julia!" Zuzu cried.

As Julia plummets into certain doom, the bloom diva flies overhead to reach out and catch Julia in both her arms. The girl was confused at first before she looks up at the bloom diva, who gives her a gracious smile.

"Bloom Diva?" Julia inquired. "You save me?" She looks over to Zuzu who was relieved to see that she is okay. She caught her gaze and turns away with a red blush rolling in her cheeks.

"The fight for the Action Card determined the outcome of the duel is over!" Nico announced. "The winner of this match is Zuzu Hiiragi of You-Show Duel School!"

Everyone at the stadium is making cheers for the victor of the match. Even the You-Show and Gongenzaka were proud of her.

Yasuko has a more rather relaxed but impressive look to see how Zuzu managed to make a rise after her defeat from Julia in her last duel. She can hear Shuzo crying in joy after her daughter's first victory in the Arc League.

"Well done, Zuzu! I am so proud of you! That's why you're my daughter!" Shuzo cried as he hangs his head back with fresh tears bursting out like a water hose. "My blood is boiling red hot right now!"

After seeing Zuzu's performance in the duel, Yasuko was convinced. Everyone that she knew is growing in the tournament. Zuzu has improved a lot since her defeat from Julia. She thought that the Arc League would serve no purpose for her, but then again, after seeing Zuzu and her Fusion Summon, maybe Yasuko will grow too.

* * *

At the end of the first day, Shuzo drives the bus, that You-Show owes, back to the city. Yasuko splits from the rest of the You-Show to get back to Diana's place. Thinking back to the number of duelists in You-Show who survive the first day, only two out of the three You-Show duelists managed to make it. Tomorrow is the second, and her duel is right after Gongenzaka.

As the sun sets, a shadow appears in front of Yasuko. Her eyes reverted up to find herself facing the one person she least wanted to see.

"Nice to see you're in a bright or foul mood, Melania Herman," Yasuko addressed.

Melania Herman was standing on the street in front of Yasuko. Her eyes shine no bright or despicable gaze, just the same eyes of a professional. "Not happy, just tad on curious," she said. "I've been wondering…are you in this tournament just to get even with me?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the girl. "What else?" she inquired. "You think I didn't forget what happened when I trusted you to cover my back at the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games?" Her voice spits out her dangerous hate for the blond girl. "I thought I could've trusted you, but you were using me just to know how to use the Extra Deck methods."

Melania closes her eyes to reminisced about the events between the two of them. "I had no other choice," she said. "I was ill-prepared for facing opponents who've already incorporated the idea of using Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon when the Leo Corporation introduced them three years ago, and then you came along, and happened to know all three of them."

"You didn't have a choice," Yasuko argued. "You just seized the opportunity to know what I know about Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon because the LDS introduced them three years ago, and I had no idea that the Leo Corporation introduced them three years ago."

"But you were never a student of the LDS," Melania responded.

Yasuko's eyes turn fire after hearing it from Melania. "So?" she asked. "LDS had Lousy benefits anyway."

Melania opens her eyes. "And yet, you joined the You-Show Duel School," she replied. "Do they offer anything better than what you think?"

"At least someone's willing to learn under my wing," said Yasuko.

Melania raised an eyebrow, intrigued that someone from the You-Show is learning from Yasuko herself. "Oh, so you found another one to teach Fusion, Synchro, or Xyz Summon?" she snorted, inquiring Yasuko about her student. "That's a surprise. I thought you'd given up teaching someone, after all, it was _you_ who taught me everything you know about dueling, including what it means to use Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz Summon."

"My mistake," said Yasuko, tainting her voice with rage.

"And what now? You're teaching this one so that you can get that student of yours to beat me in the same manner?" Melania asked.

"Hell no," Yasuko rebuked. " _He's_ not the one who's going to beat you…" She jabs a thumb to herself. " _I'm_ the one and only one who's going to beat you in this tournament, Melania Herman." It wasn't a promise that Yasuko is declaring; it was a vow. Yasuko is determined to make sure that only she will be the one beat the winner of the Frontier Games.

* * *

 **Okay, I know what you're thinking. I know you, readers, have already watched these duels before, and you get tired of reading them again, but I want to make some changes just to make it more interesting, and I know how you get bored after reading these same old duels from the anime in one of my duel chapters, but I want to create duels that could've happened alternatively and especially for this one because I want to expand each of the Four Bracelet girls' story even further in this series. So please, bear with me, this is all just apart of the storyline that I have created from myself. And don't worry, I will cover every card that was made in the TCG and OCG for this series, so don't let this story down just yet.**

 **Anyways, thank you for providing the feedback on the mistakes I've made in these duel chapters, I know I've made some mistake about the card effects, and I will make sure that these duel chapters work perfectly well later on, and thank you for taking the time to read this chapter, so don't worry, the next one's going to be better.**

 **Salutations, fellow readers, and you enjoy the rest of the awesome day.**


	33. Chapter 33: The Past Never Dies

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be invo** **lved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship — Chapter 33: The Past Never Dies; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Mikisugi Dakoda Part 1_

* * *

In the back of her mind, Yasuko was thinking of how her day turned out. She kept asking herself in her head, " _How in the hell did I get myself into this mess?"_

The girl replays to how her day went: walking her way down to the Leo Stadium in a shortcut route where her match was supposed to be in until she comes across Yuya again in a tag-team match up

It feels like a tag-team duel, only she and Yuya are getting two of their opponents each. Yuya explained his side of the story; someone stole Gongenzaka's white sash and tried to bring it back to him, only for him to walk into an ambush by four stooges who are working for Grizzlepike.

As for Yasuko's side, it all started with her was walking to the Leo Stadium because her match is right after Gongenzaka's, but then she came upon Yuya in the middle of a park with four other dudes who didn't seem all friendly toward him. Yasuko was about to leave him, but the four stooges were so arrogant that they ended dragging her in, and that's why she's in a duel with Yuya in the first place.

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko (LP: 500) and Yuya (LP: 400)**

 **VS**

 **Unidentified Duelist #1 (LP: 1200), Unidentified Duelist #2 (LP: 1300), Unidentified Duelist #3 (LP: 1700), and** **Unidentified Duelist #4 (LP: 1500)**

Yasuko's monsters are consisting of only **Lady of D. (ATK 700/DEF 1100)** , and **Dwarf Star Dragon Planeter (ATK 850/DEF 600)** along with three Set face-down cards. Her monsters had their attack power cut in half in one of the last turns.

While Yuya has only **Performapal Hip Hippo (ATK 0/DEF 800)** and a Set card on his side of the field, the other four stooges have their monsters outnumbering their opponents due to the four-against-two duel.

The monsters that they have on the field are **Jinzo (ATK 2400/DEF 1800)** , **Doom Dozer (ATK 2800/DEF 2400)** , **Barrel Dragon (ATK 2600/DEF 2200)** , and **Batteryman Industrial Strength (ATK 2600/DEF 0)**. One of them has a **Pumprincess, the Princess of Ghosts** as a Continuous Spell Card due to its effect of making the other monsters on their side of the field weaker.

It was some other dude's turn and already in his Battle Phase. He was preparing to attack Yuya, but he had his Quick-Play Spell Card; **Hippo Carnival**. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" Yuya announced. "It's showtime!"

On his word, rainbows flyover above the blazing dark dragon and the dragon sorceress for three hippos; one orange, one yellow, and one green-blue, to dance. The dragon sorceress makes taps on her feet to go along with the rhythm. "Prepare yourself for You-Show Style Entertainment Dueling!" Yuya announced.

Yasuko's forehead pops a ticked mark, giving the urge to hit Yuya after the duel is over. "Seriously," she growled. "Get it over with."

While Yasuko was pissed for seeing how much time Yuya is breaking, the four stooges were amazed by how someone like Yuya managed to pull off a random move that. They were so happy that they give a round of applause for Yuya.

"Awesome!"

"How fun!"

"What a show!"

 **Turn: Yuya (1x card)**

"It's my turn now," said Yuya. "I draw!" He draws a card. "And now, the moment that you are all waiting for! I tribute my Hip Hippo to Summon the star of this show! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" By tributing Performapal Hip Hippo, Yuya was able to Tribute Summon **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. The red-scaled dragon with dichromatic red and green eyes appears on the field, roaring to life.

"Good, now we can begin with this!" Yasuko flips up her Quick-Play Spell Card; **Gravity Lash**. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Gravity Lash!" The spell card zaps through the air to the Jinzo as his attack points were decreased following by his defense points.

 **(Jinzo: ATK 2400** → **600)**

"Thank you, Yasuko, for giving such an opportunity," Yuya declared. "Battle! Odd-Eyes, attack Jinzo!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum charges directly at Jinzo and fires a burst of spiraling red laser down to obliterate the monster and the unidentified duelist's life points.

 **Unidentified Duelist #1 (LP: 1200** → **0)**

"Finally, now I can play my traps!" Yasuko flips up two of her Trap Cards; **Energy Drain** , and **Tyrant Wing**. "Energy Drain gives Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon 200 ATK and DEF points for every card that are in your hand until the End Phase," said Yasuko. "And Tyrant Wing makes Odd-Eyes attack twice with an added bonus of an extra 400 ATK points." She then points at the second stooge. "And since that guy still has cards remaining, that means Odd-Eyes gains 800 ATK points due to Energy Drain's effect!"

Thanks to the double trap cards that Yasuko played, Odd-Eyes Pendulum is now even stronger than ever and roars in gratitude for the power boost.

 **(Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 2500/DEF 2000** → **ATK 3700/DEF 3200)**

"How stunning!" Yuya announced. "Let's give a round of applause for my faithful assistant to help build up this moment." Yasuko is getting more annoyed with Yuya by the second as the other three stooges clap for her despite not helping much.

"And now, Odd-Eyes, let's give these folks a show they'll never forget," Yuya commended. "Attack! Spiral Burst Strike!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum makes a big spiraling burst that splits into two to destroy the barrel dragon and batteryman, plummeting the other two stooge's life points down the drain.

 **(Unidentified Duelist #2: LP: 1300** → **0)**

 **(Unidentified Duelist #3: LP: 1700** → **0)**

"And to further add up to the ongoing collegiate of Spells and Traps, I'm going to be activating a Trap of my own!" Yuya beamed as he flips up his Trap Card; **One Two Jump**. "One Two Jump lets me halve one monster on your side of the field, and that way, since my Odd-Eyes destroyed two monsters, that monster has to attack my Odd-Eyes again!" Yuya gestures to the giant centipede monster. "And since Doom Dozer is the only monster on the field, why not we have its ATK points halve instead?"

 **(Doom Dozer: ATK 2800** → **1400)**

"And now, for the grand finale! Odd-Eyes, attack Doom Dozer with Spiraling Burst Strike!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum makes a charge with the backbone plates leaving behind a trail of rainbow thanks to Yasuko's trap card, which causes the dragon to glow in rainbow colors. It unleashes a spiraling rainbow beam down to destroy the giant centipede to wipe out all last stooge's life points.

 **(Unidentified Duelist #4: LP 1500** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko and Yuya**

The four stooges were paralyzed by the amazement of the show that Yuya and Yasuko had displayed. They couldn't help but be moved by Yuya's entertainment.

After the duel, Yuya comes forward to take the white sash from the bald stooge and turns to Yasuko with a smile. "Okay, I've got Gongenzaka's—"

 _BONG!_

Yuya was struck on the head that it sounds like an anvil falling on his skull. He yelled in pain after Yasuko bashed him in the head with her gym bag. "What was that for!?" Yuya cried, comedian streams of tears falling from his eyes.

"Damn it, Yuya!" Yasuko exclaimed. "I'm late for my match all because of Gong's stupid white sash!" She snatched the white sash from Yuya's hands and shoved it in her gym bag. "You and that Big Bushy Brows are a pain. If I missed out, you and that Big Bushy Brow Gong are going to get it." She runs off ahead before Yuya hurries over to catch up.

It looks like it's not too far, considering that it is a tall building from a few yards away. She is sprinting faster and hopes that Gongenzaka is still having his match before she is next.

After a series of twists and turns, they've finally got to the stadium. Yuya and Yasuko are almost short on breath, but they keep on going until they can see a thousand heads of people in the stadium.

Yasuko and Yuya's stops to see if they make it on time.

On the Action Field is Gongenzaka and his opponent, Gen Akukoji, where he has the young man cornered on top of a cliffside on a large island. The battle is in favor of Gen since he has all full life points, while Gongenzaka has only about a little remaining.

After working her way up and over to get to the Leo Stadium, she inhales as much air as her lungs can hold and scream out the name. "GONGENZAKA!" she shrieked loud enough to get his attention.

Gongenzaka, who was standing at the edge of the cliff on an island, hears her shout and turns up to stare at the angry Yasuko with Yuya standing beside her. The people of You-Show are all relieved to see that Yuya is okay and Yasuko with him.

"Yuya!" Shuzo, Yoko, and Zuzu chorused.

"He's okay!" The three little kids exclaimed.

"Gong, you big asshole!" Yasuko yelled. "You should be focusing on yourself and not this slacker!" She whips out the white sash that she and Yuya worked so hard to get. Yasuko throws the white sash over to Gongenzaka.

The young man smirks over her fiery rage. He reaches up to take the white sash that was thrown to him. "Yasuko," Gongenzaka called. "I have received the sash, and for that, I the man Gongenzaka, thanks you!"

In the meantime, Yasuko turns to Yuya with a scowl. "Well," she said. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't hit you and Bushy Brows there for wasting my time?"

Yuya scratches the back of his head with embarrassment. "Well," he started. "Gongenzaka's white sash meant everything to him, and because he wears it since he was in his dojo, it's important to let him get it right when he was dueling."

Yasuko sighed and crossed her arms, looking back to the stadium. "What the hell? I'll get you and that Bushy Brows some other time," she said.

While they were talking, Gongenzaka was able to Synchro Summon his strongest monster and slash away Gen's monster along with his life points.

The island disappears back to a normal arena with a giant glass above the ARC system. Gongenzaka comes to the stands where Yuya and Yasuko are at. He is met with Yuya's glad expression and Yasuko's scowl.

Gongenzaka turns to Yasuko and bows his head to her slightly. "Yasuko Yukihana, I apologize if my friend was making any delays for you," he reconciled. "I should be the one who should you scowl on."

Yasuko sighed. "Just let it down," she dismissed. "What's important is that I am here; that's all that matters." She takes a glance at Yuya. "To be honest, Yuya is too gullible to fall for any tricks."

Yuya faces to Yasuko with annoyance. "Hey, you didn't have to help me if you hadn't provoked one of them," he pointed out.

Yasuko turns her head away. "So what?"

Gongenzaka jerks his head to Yuya. He lets up a hand to him. "I believed that you would come, Yuya," he said. "I'm sorry if I was worried about too much, friend."

Yuya smiles at Gongenzaka. "I believed that you would win, Gongenzaka," he assured as he grips his hand back to gives it a shake.

"Yuya!" Everyone in You-Show, including Yoko, all ran from the stands toward Yuya.

"We were so worried," said Frederick. "Where were you?"

"Sorry," Yuya replied. "I got a bit…sidetracked and uh…" He half turns his head to the forest-green haired girl beside him. "Yasuko helped me out a bit."

Yasuko makes a skeptical look. "Like you need help," she replied. She unstraps herself from the gym bag and hands it over to Zuzu. "Here, hold this for me, please."

Zuzu nodded. "Okay."

"Next up for the second match is Yasuko Yukihana of You-Show Duel School and Mikisugi Dakoda of Grigori Duel School!" Nico announced through the loudspeakers.

While Gongenzaka marches out of the arena, Yasuko enters at the same time. She walks with her head up high to face the big boy in front of her. She narrows her eyes at the duelist in front of her.

Flashback images of Mikisugi started to appear before her in from her younger days. The first time that she dueled him and when she was cheated that he took her Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon.

Thinking back to her how defeated she was to Mikisugi makes her burn the fire inside of her. She and Mikisugi stop in front of each other, staring at each other with the smug look on Mikisugi's face, and the narrowed scowl from Yasuko's eyes.

The boy raises his blue duel disk over and activates his orange blade as Yasuko takes out her forest green duel disk from her holster and attaches to her wrist to enable her blue blade.

"Alright, folks, let's go for the second match!" Nico Smiley announced. "Now, it is time to pick this match's Action Field!" The giant Action Card that was floating in the bubble of cards starts to spin fast before stopping to the Action Field Spell; **Prometheus City**.

"Oh, it looks like the Action Field is taking it to the skies when it is Prometheus City!" Nico exclaimed. "Action Field Spell! Prometheus City activates!" The ARC system turns on as the machine changes the arena into a pre-modern city that is built on a massive suspension bridge being held by two cliffs. The background consists of other cities that are on bridges where they are above the clouds

Yasuko and Mikisugi stand in a city square, staring at each other with the fire rising from both of them.

"I've been waiting a long time for this, Yasuko Yukihana," said Mikisugi.

Yasuko narrows her eyes at Mikisugi. "So?" she asked.

Yasuko can see how angry Mikisugi was giving when she made her comment about their past grudges. "So?" Mikisugi inquired. "Do you have any idea what I've been through? After you humiliated me, everyone kept beating me. All my pals left because I was weak. People say I was a fraud. Everyone was going on about you like you were the pop star of the neighborhood." Mikisugi's glare never ceased to get even hotter. "You earned respects, and I lost mine, so I'm going to reclaim my title," he proclaimed. "And you're going to fall."

Yasuko's eyes never wavered, starting to understand something about him and her. "I never like the attention, Mikisugi Dakoda," she admitted. "Because of you, people wouldn't stop bugging me."

Mikisugi's eyebrows press together to frown even further. "Is that why you quit the Dueling Club in the first place?" he asked. "You think you can just join a duel school like You-Show will change any of it? I can tell them right now; you don't care about the You-Show or anyone than yourself. You don't even care about your dueling club members because a few months after you left them three years ago, the Dueling Club of Horyuji disbanded."

Yasuko is surprised. She had no idea that the Horyuji's dueling club dissolved when she was done getting involved with them. "What?" she inquired.

"That's right," Mikisugi confirmed as he points back at the girl. "In every match they go to, they always lose, and because of the failing performance, the Horyuji's Dueling Club is no more!"

Mikisugi looked at his hand and clenched it into a fist. "I was about to join them after training my way back up," he said. "But, they dissolved because you quit on them." He looked back up to Yasuko and said, "How would you think those people from the You-Show feel if they learned that you abandoned your previous club because you didn't see them as equals?" Mikisugi questioned. "You push them aside, just like all the rest of your classmates. You think you're so high? Well, guess what? You're not. You care only about yourself, and nothing more."

The more Mikisugi talked, the more infuriated Yuya gets; hearing him talking Yasuko down is getting his blood boiling in a fury. "Stop it, Mikisugi," he growled, tainting his tone with venomous rage. "You don't know anything about Yasuko." He was glaring hard at Mikisugi. "You have no idea what Yasuko has to go through just to be here," he whispered in a furious ringtone.

Yuya had never liked the boy when he first met him. He's seen how Yasuko struggled to get herself into the Arc League, and even before that, she is still struggling now. He understood what Yasuko went through during her childhood. There was no way he's not going to let someone like Mikisugi talk smack to her.

Zuzu notices the growing tension from Yuya at the instant. She saw how Yuya has a furious frown on his face.

Yasuko didn't seem to care much regarding Mikisugi's insult. "It doesn't change anything; we are standing here with our duel disks," she admonished. "I'm going to beat you, and that's that."

"I like to see you try," Mikisugi dared. "But remember, this is the new and improved Mikisugi that you are facing, not the one you dueled five years ago."

Mikisugi takes out her blue duel disk that emits an orange glowing disk blade. Yasuko pulls out her duel disk from her holster and throws it in the air before she catches it with her left wrist, attaching itself to the device. With their duel disks ready, they can now begin their match.

"Powerful duelists have gathered within this city…" Mikisugi chanted.

"They'll kick up dirt as they ride along with their monsters…" Yasuko announced.

"As they ride across the field," said Mikisugi.

"And into battle!" Yasuko added.

"Behold, the greatest evolution of dueling is here!" They chorused. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana: LP 4000**

 **VS**

 **Mikisugi Dakoda: LP 4000**

" _ **DUEL!**_ "

The bubble in the air bursts to rain Action Cards all over the entire bridge city-style field to begin the duel.

 **Turn 1: Mikisugi (5x cards)**

"The first move goes to mine!" Mikisugi announced. He takes out a card from his hand and Normal Summons **Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses** **(ATK** **1500** **/DEF** **1500).** "I summon Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Bosses!" For Mikisugi's first move is to summon a monster that is a blond young man wearing a white shawl that had the lavender design at the edges with a red scarf around his neck, and black pants and shirt.

"I Set three cards face-down and end my turn." Mikisugi Sets three cards face-down.

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (5x cards)**

"What a great start for Mikisugi Dakoda," Nico announced. "Mikisugi starts with a monster and three face-downs! How will Mrs. Yukihana play this?"

The girl was suspicious of what was the purpose of Mikisugi to set three cards. "Is that all?" she questioned.

Mikisugi narrows his eyes at the cynical duelists. "Always giving that look," he replied. "The same dead look that never shows what you are feeling. I'm getting sick and tired of seeing that same boredom that you have on your face." He then points at the girl. "I'm going to change that look on your face when this duel goes on! Do you hear me?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes. "Oh, I heard you," she said, placing a finger on her deck. "It's my turn!" She draws a card.

"And my turn to activate the Trap!" Mikisugi flips up his face-down Trap Card: **Generaider Boss Fight**. "I activate Generaider Boss Fight!" he declared. "This card lets me activate one Generaider Field Spell from my deck, and you draw a card!" Mikisugi's duel disk pops out one card and activates the Field Spell Card: **Generaider Boss Stage**. "I activate Generaider Boss Stage!" he exclaimed.

Yasuko watches the effect that allows her to draw an extra card. "Really? You want me to draw a card while you activated a spell?" she inquired. "I expected more." Yasuko draws a card; unfortunately, she was caught in Mikisugi's trap, and she never foresaw what was about to happen next.

"I'm afraid that you'll be expecting a _lot_ more than just drawing a card, Yukihana," said Mikisugi. "When my opponent adds a card, I can activate Boss Stage's effect! I can Special Summon one Generaider monster from my Deck in Defense Position!" He takes out one monster from his deck and Special Summons **Nidhogg, Generaider Boss of Ice (ATK 2100/DEF 2600)** in Defense Position. "I Special Summon Nidhogg, Generaider Boss of Ice!" From the portal in front of Mikisugi is a monster that resembles to be a mixture of a dragon and a wyvern with no legs, but broad wings with its entire body made of crystalized materials that hardened its skin whenever exposed to sunlight. There is a red beating heart at the chest.

"And I'm not finished!" Mikisugi exclaimed. "When a Generaider monster is Special Summoned, I can Special Summon as many Generaider Tokens as possible in Attack Position!" Mikisugi was going all out with his effect and Special Summons three **Generaider Tokens (Fairy/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500)** in Attack Position. "I summon three Generaider Tokens!" The monsters that surround the loptr and the nidhogg are three high-tech fairy monsters that are white and gray on their armor and generate multiple circles of light from behind with rings right in between the gaps.

The You-Show gasped in surprise that the duelist has something up against Yasuko.

"Four monsters in one turn?!" Tate gasped. "That's insane!"

"It's Yasuko's turn, and Mikisugi has a field full of monsters," said Allie, holding both her hands together to her chest.

"This can't be good," Zuzu stated. "Yasuko always gets herself a card outside of her Draw Phase, but Mikisugi gets to activate the field spell's effect to Special Summon all those tokens."

"And that's not all," Yuya added. "Since this is an Action Duel, getting an Action Card is considered to be adding a card." Yuya never expected Mikisugi to make a board of his own. "Something tells me that Yasuko's opponent won't be so easy," he said, concerned about how the match will turn out for Yasuko.

Mikisugi has to make the next move for his plan to work. "Now, I activate Loptr's special effect!" Mikisugi added. "I can tribute one Generaider monster from my field to Special Summon one Generaider monster from my Deck!" He points at the first token monster on the field. "I tribute my first Generaider Token to Special Summon Hoárr, Generaider Boss of Thunder!" By tributing the first token monster, Mikisugi Special Summons **Hoárr, Generaider Boss of Thunder (ATK 3000/DEF 3000)** from his Deck in Attack Position. Thunder clouds were converging from the sky before a massive lightning strikes hit the field, summoning a behemoth with horns sticking out of the hooded cloak that it was wearing underneath its purple body armor while wielding a staff blade in its right hand as the red beating eyes glares underneath the shadows of its hood.

Yasuko makes a raised eyebrow. "You think you've gotten stronger, have you?" she questioned. "Well, you are going have to keep working on your technique even more!" Yasuko takes a brief look at the stadium. Thousands of people are going to witness the most incredible thing that will happen out of the blue.

With a deep breath, Yasuko takes out two of her cards and declares her words to Mikisugi, if not, the entire stadium. "I use my Scale 3 Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon and Scale 8 Magister of Endymion to set the Pendulum Scale!" Yasuko announced boldly. "I'm gonna show you how I control the duel right now!" And with that, Yasuko Sets her **Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon** **(Scale 3)** and **Magister of Endymion (Scale 8)** at both edges of her blue blade, forming the rainbow "Pendulum" word for the first time in a while since Yasuko last used Pendulum Summon.

The two monsters are the red dragon who bears dichromatic red and green eyes with bone armor and twin tails at the end of the bigger one, and the second is a new type of Pendulum monster: a forest green armored young man with silver-gray hair underneath its magical hat wearing a golden mask with a red optical eye over his right one while wielding a giant wand that has an orange crystal orb at the hook. They float above the girl under the two pillars of light with their respective scale numbers underneath them.

Mikisugi felt like his breath just left his lungs after Yasuko is doing the impossible thing. "What—what the—Pendulum Scale?!" he stammered.

Everyone is bewildered by the sight of monsters in the Pendulum Zone. Nobody didn't see it coming. It was like the winds blow a powerful current to their faces.

"Wh-wh-wh-wh-wha— _What?!_ " Nico was stammering so hard that his voice nearly gives a deep rasp on the microphone. "Did I hear it, right?! What do we have here?! Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls! It appears that there is a new player on the field! It would seem that the new duelist of You-Show, Yasuko Yukihana, has just used Yuya Sakaki's specialty, and we can guess what's coming next! A Pendulum Summon!" he exclaimed. "And would you look at her monster! It strikes the resemblance of the monster that defeated the champion, Strong Ishijima! Odd-Eyes!"

The sight of the Pendulum monsters has caused an uproar among the crowd.

"No way!"

"Is that a Pendulum monster?"

"But, I thought it wasn't real?"

"I heard that Yuya Sakaki did a Pendulum Summon in his duel against Strong Ishijima and that it was a fake."

"No way! That girl has a Pendulum monster, so it is real!"

The crowd is mixed in their opinions. While some are confused, some are amazed by Yasuko's Pendulum monsters. The crowd shifts from being confused to astonishment. Their moods are raising the excitement.

"Wow! I didn't know this girl has those cards!"

"That is so cool!"

"I know! When I heard that Yuya Sakaki used Pendulum Summon to beat Strong Ishijima, it was bogus!"

"So, it is real then!"

"That's amazing!"

"It feels like I'm watching the duel between Yuya and the Sledgehammer!"

"She's going to Pendulum Summon! I'm so excited!"

The You-Show gang is thrilled to see Yasuko and her Pendulum monsters after seeing her not using them during her six duels. Like everyone else, the You-Show was astounded with Yasuko and her willingness to use the Pendulum cards; not to mention the new Pendulum monster that is in Yasuko's Pendulum Zone.

Zuzu saw how the crowd is getting hyped for Yasuko's Pendulum Summon. "Look, everyone loves it," she said.

Yuya can't help but let a smile form on his face. "Of course," he responded. "They love it. That's because Yasuko is not giving up." He stares at Yasuko's determined face. "She's going to use every card in her deck to finish the match, even if she uses Pendulum."

Tate looks up at the pendulum monsters. "Whoa, look at that! This is getting awesome!" he cheered.

"Alright, Yasuko!" Allie smiled. "She's going to Pendulum Summon!"

"I'm getting the shivers!" Frederick squealed.

Gongenzaka raises a fist in the air, giving her a smirk. "That's the spirit!" he bellowed.

"Way a go, Yasuko Yukihana!" Shuzo cheered. "Use them to make your hot burning blood boil!"

Everyone was expecting for Yasuko to make a Pendulum Summon, but instead, the girl does something else first. "And from my hand, I activate the Spell, Spell Power Grasp!" Yasuko takes out a card and activates the Spell Card: **Spell Power Grasp**.

Much to everyone's surprise, the girl who sets her Pendulum Scale didn't go for the Pendulum Summon immediately as they thought. Even the You-Show people were all confused while making a loud response of, "huh?"

"And now, I add a second Spell Power Grasp from my deck to my hand," said Yasuko. Her deck pops out a card and adds a second copy of her **Spell Power Grasp**.

Mikisugi was taken back by Yasuko's decision not to make the Pendulum Summon. "What?" he queried. "You have Pendulum cards, and you're not going to make a Pendulum Summon yet?" His face distorted to become angry. "What the hell was that?" he growled. "Did you do that to show off?"

"Of course not, you idiot," Yasuko retorted. "I only needed the Spell to activate its effect." She raises her hand the magister endymion, and Yasuko proceeds with her move. "Spell Power Grasps targets one face-up card on the field, and I can place one Spell Counter on it, and then I can add another Spell Power Grasp from my Deck to my hand!" The magister endymion glows bright yellow in response to the effect of the spell card. "I target my Magister to have him gain a Spell Counter."

"What was the point of that?" Mikisugi asked.

"Perhaps, you don't know about this deck does when I was in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games," said Yasuko. "And this one's a brand-new custom deck for myself! Magister of Endymion's Pendulum effect activates! Each time a Spell Card activates and resolves, this card gains a Spell Counter!"

"What?" Mikisugi inquired.

The magister endymion glows bright orange to gain a counter from the first Spell Card.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter 0** → **1)**

Due to the magister's special effect, it gains a second Spell Counter of its own after the Spell Card resolves.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter 1** → **2)**

The three kids on the You-Show side are confused about what Yasuko is trying to do.

"Spell Counters?" Allie queried. "What are those?"

"Oh, they're some sort of currency," Tate explained. "Some decks allow them to have counters. They're markers that act as currency for special effects from different monsters. The more counters you have, the higher chance you'll get to use an effect."

Sora seems to understand what Tate is talking about and pulls a lollipop out of his mouth. "Looks like this is going to get interesting," he said. "With that magister in the Pendulum Zone, that means each time the players activate a Spell card; the monster gains a counter." He looks over to Yasuko with an intrigued smirk. "Something tells me that Yasuko's got a plan for this match."

Yasuko then takes out another card and activates the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Mythical Bestiary**. "Then, I activate the Spell, Mythical Bestiary!" she called. "This spell lets me send two cards from the top of my deck to the graveyard to target one face-up card on the field, and then place up to two Spell Counters on it." She raises her hand to her magister. "And I target Magister of Endymion, which will trigger his Pendulum effect as well." When Yasuko played a Spell, the magisters gains three Spell Counters due to its Pendulum effect.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter 2** → **5)**

"Now, the conditions are set!" Yasuko exclaimed. "With these two monsters, I can Pendulum Summon between Levels 2 and 7 simultaneously!" she stated. " _Hear my soul roaring upon thy! I call forth the energy of my heart to unleash the flame of solemnity from within_! I _**Pendulum Summon**_ _! Bring forth, my monsters!_ " From the sky above Yasuko, a small portal opens, and two pillars of light rain down in purple and orange light behind Yasuko.

"Come forth, Mythical Beast Jackal King, and the wondrous blue dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" Yasuko Pendulum Summons **Mythical Beast Jackal King (ATK 2400/DEF 1600)** and **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)** in Attack Position. The first monster was a navy blue jackal spirit monster that has armor on the hips and the body with blue mini fox spirits emitting from the tail with its yellow-green eyes staring forward. The second one is the navy blue dragon that has bone armor encasing all over the body with horns sticking out from the head as its heterochromia red and green eyes flaring out.

Odd-Eyes Phantom roars with life after being sealed for weeks since Yasuko's last Pendulum Summon.

The crowd is loving Yasuko's monsters after she debuted her Pendulum Summon. They were screaming, and the You-Show are cheering on for Yasuko and her Pendulum Summon.

"Alright! Yasuko did it!" Tate beamed. "She did her Pendulum Summon after so long!"

"I think my shivers are coming back!" Frederick squealed.

"Go, Yasuko!" Allie cheered.

Yuya was getting very excited to see Yasuko making her first Pendulum Summon after the last time she did it. He felt very relieved that Yasuko has taken steps to use her Pendulum Summon to her advantage. "Yasuko… you're doing it!" he praised

Gongenzaka likes the Pendulum Summon since the last time he's seen Yasuko did it. "Alright, Yasuko!" he boasted. "Now you show him what you're made of!"

Even Nico Smiley was getting on with Yasuko's Pendulum Summon. "And there we have it, folks!" he announced. "After a brief moment of pause, Yasuko Yukihana has finally done her first Pendulum Summon! This duel could be the duel of the century!"

Despite the excitement and the ongoing excitement for Yasuko, Mikisugi wasn't envious; in fact, he was rather angry with her Pendulum Summon. "So, you've even managed to do a Pendulum Summon?" he questioned. "How'd come every time something new happens, you always managed to do them?" He was giving Yasuko the hardest glare that he can muster. "This is just like when Leo Corporation debuted the Extra Deck methods." His fists clenched together. "Well, I've had it!" he shouted. "I activate Nidhogg's special effect!"

Much to everyone and Yasuko's surprise, Mikisugi has a move of his own. "When my opponent Special Summons a monster or monsters, I can tribute one Generaider monster in my field to negate and destroy them!" he exclaimed. "I tribute my Generaider token to negate that Pendulum Summon!"

"What?!" Tate exclaimed. "He can negate any kind of Special Summons?!"

"That's not good!" Allie cried.

One of the tokens on Mikisugi's field disappears from the field, effectively activating the nidhogg. The nidhogg swept its wings forward to create a strong blizzard current by flapping its wings forward, effectively trying to get rid of Yasuko's monsters; however, Yasuko has a counter against the effect.

"You're not the only one who can make a counterattack!" Yasuko exclaimed. "I activate Jackal King's special effect!" She throws her hand over to the jackal king. "When a monster activates its effect, I remove two Spell Counters on my field to negate the effect and destroy the monster!" Yasuko chooses to remove two Spell Counters from her magister.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counters 5** → **3)**

"I remove two of Magister's Spell Counters to activate Jackal King's effect and negate your Nidhogg!" The jackal king howls like a great wolf of the snow mountains and prepares to make the counterattack. The jackal king sends a screaming howl over to pierce right through the blizzard and straight for the nidhogg.

"Tough luck, Yukihana!" Mikisugi boomed. "I activate Hoárr's special effect!" He gestures over to the thunder generaider boss. "When a card effect activates, I can tribute one Spellcaster or two Generaider monsters from my field to negate the effect and destroy it!"

The third generaider token and the loptr generaider on Mikisugi's field bursts into particles to let the hoárr generaider boss consume it by sucking all the dust inside. Once they were gone, the hoarr brings up its staff in the air. Thunder clouds form up above the hoarr, and lightning strikes crack the sky, summoning a bolt of lightning over to zap and destroy the jackal king.

"Oh, no!" Frederick gasped. "With Jackal King destroyed, that means the other monster can destroy all of the monsters that Yasuko Pendulum Summoned!"

As Frederick proved, Odd-Eyes Phantom bursts into dust, leaving nothing for Yasuko except for her two Pendulum cards in her Pendulum Zones.

"All of that, and Mikisugi still managed to counter even Yasuko's negation," said Yuya.

"And to think that Yasuko has this in the bag," Sora stated with a bit of disappointment.

Wasting no time, Yasuko goes to her secondary option. "I activate Magister's Pendulum effect!" she exclaimed. "I can remove three Spell Counters from itself to Special Summon it from the Pendulum Zone and one face-up monster from my Extra Deck that has 1000 or more ATK points, and then place a Spell Counter on each one!"

She gestures to the magister endymion in her right Pendulum Zone. "I remove three Spell Counters to Special Summon Magister of Endymion, and Mythical Beast Jackal King!" She removes three of the Spell Counters from her magister.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter 3** → **0)**

The magister disappears from the Pendulum Zone before resurfacing back onto the field as Yasuko Special Summons **Magister of Endymion** **(ATK 900/DEF 1500)** from the Pendulum Zone and **Mythical Beast Jackal King** in Attack Position. Once again, the jackal king returns to the field from the Extra Deck and back into the field with the magister and the jackal gaining a Spell Counter.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter 0** → **1)**

 **(Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counter** **0** → **1)**

"Let's battle!" Yasuko declared. "Magister, attack Hoárr!" She points at the monster that is right in front of her. At once, the magister jumps up with his scepter sparking electricity from the orb.

Everyone at the stands is shocked that Yasuko is going to make an attack with a weaker monster. The decision makes everyone at the You-Show gasped in disbelief.

"What?!" Tate exclaimed. "She's going to attack with only that monster?"

"But he's got _way_ too low ATK points!" Allie pointed out.

"What is she thinking?!" Frederick panicked.

Just when things can go horribly wrong, Yasuko happens to have a plan for that move. "When Magister attacks, it gains a Spell Counter, and I activate this Quick-Play Spell, Gravity Lash!" Yasuko reacts quickly by activating the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Gravity Lash**. "This card targets one monster on the field, and it loses ATK points equal to its DEF points!" She points at the hoárr generaider boss. "And I target your Hoárr!" A green lightning bolt shoots out from the spell and zaps the monster as it grunts after losing all of its attack power.

 **(Hoárr, Generaider Boss of Thunder: ATK 3000** → **0)**

"And due to Jackal King's special effect, each time a Spell activates and resolves, it gains two Spell Counters!"

Once the hoárr monster lost all of its points, the magister and the jackal king gained Spell Counters.

 **(Magister of Endymion: Spell Counter 1** → **2)**

 **(Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counter 1** → **3)**

The You-Show were relieved that the girl had a plan to make sure that she doesn't take damage.

"Alright, with Hoárr now at 0, that means Yasuko can deal damage quickly!" Tate cheered.

"And to think she was crazy enough to attack such a monster with higher ATK points," Frederick boosted.

Before the magister can destroy the hoárr, the boy seemed prepared for anything that Yasuko throws at him. "I activate the Trap! Wonder Xyz!" Mikisugi shouted as he activates the face-down Trap Card: **Wonder Xyz**. "This card lets me Xyz Summon during the turn I activate this card!" By throwing his hand up high in the sky, Mikisugi makes the impossible. "I take my Nidhogg and my Hoárr to build the Overlay Network!" At once, the nidhogg turns into the blue light while the hoárr transforms into a purple light. The two beams shot up in the air before falling into the galaxy portal in front of Mikisugi. "Behold! Yasuko Yukihana, this is my ultimate move, the monster that will bring an end to you once and for all!" The galaxy portal shoots up in the air.

" _Monstrous being from the North! Arise, and become the very serpent that will be the destroyer of all the warriors who've to stand before you!_ I **Xyz Summon!** _Appear! Rank 9, Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity!"_ Mikisugi Xyz Summons **Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK ?/DEF ?)**.

The monster that Mikisugi summoned is a giant sea-serpent that has to the size of almost half of the entire stadium with its short stubby limbs and long spikes on the back with red tips at the top. With its dark and grayish scales, the being is almost as tall as the LDS tower if it stands up higher as two brown Overlay Units rove around the monster at the base of the body.

The entire stadium was taken back by the massive monster that is colossal. Some of the spectators had to back away because jormungandr's size could almost be touching them if they get too close.

"Whoa! Nelly!" Gongenzaka exclaimed. "Look at the _size_ of that thing!"

"It's humongous!" Tate gasped.

"This is not good!" Allie panicked.

"It…it's starting to give me goosebumps," Frederick whimpered in fright.

Yuya and Zuzu's mouth was open; eyes sockets are wide awake, and breaths are getting shallow after seeing the massive monster in front of Mikisugi.

"It's huge!" Yuya choked.

"How's Yasuko going to beat that?" Zuzu wondered.

"I have no idea," said Sora, who is unimpressed by the massive size of the monster.

"Well, Yasuko has got to think of something fast," said Shuzo. "Because I have no idea what the ATK and DEF points are."

Yasuko was looking up at the jormungandr that was towering over her. If she can even look higher, she might fall back because of its size height and length. However, she didn't find anything impressive. "What's with its ATK and DEF points?" Yasuko asked.

"I'm about to show you right now," said Mikisugi. "Jormungandr gains 1000 ATK points for every Xyz material that is attached to it." The jormungandr glows yellow aura around itself to gain the attack and defense power from the two overlay units that it has.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: ATK ?/DEF ?** → **ATK 2000/DEF 2000)**

"And now, I'm going to show you what this deck of my is now capable of since the last time we've dueled!" Mikisugi exclaimed. "I activate detach one Overlay Unit to activate Jormungandr's special effect!" As he raises the hand, one of the Overlay Units bursts from the monster, effectively weakening it.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 2** → **1)**

"We both draw a card from our deck, and then the players who've drawn a card are to attach one card from either the field or from the hand to Jormungandr," Mikisugi explained.

"No, you won't!" Yasuko protested. "I activate Jackal King's special effect! I remove two Spell Counters to negate your monster's effect!" The jackal king howls loudly, sending a large wave of sonic screeches to the jormungandr.

"Not by a long shot, Yasuko!" Mikisugi snapped. "I activate my trap! Generaider Boss Room!" He flips up his last face-down to activate the Continuous Trap Card: **Generaider Boss Room**. "This trap activates if my opponent activates a card effect in response to my Generaider's effect! By discarding one card, it changes your monster's effect to make it that we both draw a card!"

"What?!" Yasuko gasped.

As Mikisugi discards one card, the trap card flips up and blows a brown whirlwind over to turn the jackal king's special effect around and change it to make both Yasuko and Mikisugi draw a card.

Yasuko and Mikisugi both draw a card from their deck. "Now that your Jackal King is grounded, my Jormungandr's effect activates!"

With no other choice, Yasuko and Mikisugi both draw another card from their decks, but they have to choose which cards they are to attach to the monster. Yasuko chooses to attach her second **Spell Power Grasp** and attaches it to jormungandr as Mikisugi did the same thing with his card. The result gives more power to the jormungandr.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 1** → **3)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: ATK 1000/DEF 1000** → **ATK 3000/DEF 3000)**

"Oh, no!" Allie gasped, horrified. "Jackal King's effect was turned down!"

"So, that means whenever a card effect activates, Mikisugi can just discard one card to change the effect?" Tate inquired.

Sora, who was licking the lollipop, makes a brief explanation to the little ones. "Perhaps that is his game plan," he said. "Think about it; every time Yasuko adds a card to her hand except the Draw Phase, its trigger's Boss Stage's effect to let him Special Summon one monster from the deck, and as many tokens on his field in one turn."

"And since Yasuko adds cards from her deck all the time, that means it's going to be harder for her," Yuya added.

"Not to mention that Trap card," Gongenzaka mentioned. "Whenever Yasuko activates a card effect in response to his own, it changes to make both players draw a card."

"I'd say that this duel is going to be the most challenging for Yasuko," said Shuzo. "Because if Yasuko loses this match here, then she will never get to advance."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the monster in front of her. Seeing how much more robust that Mikisugi has gotten since the last time she dueled him, she thinks that beating him will be challenging to do.

* * *

 **Hello readers, I hoped you all are having an awesome day. So far, I know how boring it gets re-reading the anime duels, so in the future, I will not be covering** _ **every**_ **duels that happened in the anime, but I will be cover only the duels that provide significances in the story, so I'll let you off with a warning the next time I do them, and I will redo the significant duels that could well-played out differently than the anime series.**

 **Anyways, thank you, readers, for taking the time to read this chapter through, and if you like what you are reading so far, don't forget to spread the word, and let someone know about this story if they seemed interested.**

 **Have an awesome day, fandom readers!**


	34. Chapter 34: From the Ashes comes Anew

**..Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship — Chapter 34: From the Ashes comes Anew; Yasuko Yukihana vs. Mikisugi Dakoda Part 2_

* * *

 **DUEL:**

 **Yasuko Yukihana (LP 4000) (3x cards)**

 **VS**

 **Mikisugi Dakoda (LP 4000) (2x cards)**

The first time that Yasuko dueled Mikisugi was about five years ago, almost two years after she arrived in Japan with her new foster mother, Chloe Saratoga. She was getting used to the game after discovering that she was better than most of her classmates. When kids at her block were talking about her winning streak, Mikisugi Dakoda, who went to her grade school, challenged her to a duel. She had him, but he used Mirror Force to destroy her monsters, enabling his victory. Because of her defeat, Mikisugi took her Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon as payment because most of her cards back then were nothing but mix matches.

Yasuko never talked about her experience with Chloe. She understands that Chloe cared for her, but she wonders if her mother will know that some bully at her neighborhood took her card. She never talks about the incident and suppresses any feelings that could smolder her heart.

Some time ago, after her defeat in Mikisugi, Yasuko didn't make any more duels and simply refused anyone who wanted to challenge her because she lost her touch after her loss. Her interest in Duel Monsters diminished even to consider quitting on it. She wants to throw out the cards and never duel again. What is the point of keeping the cards if she doesn't know what she is doing in her duel?

As she remembered Mikisugi used to have his Berserkion the Electromagna Warrior out, and when the little boy attacked after seemingly weakening his monster. She had flashbacks to her duel against Mikisugi and replays the image over again. Usually, anyone with the right mind would be afraid of the attack points it possessed, but the boy was confronting Mikisugi like he wasn't scared of him. She believed that the boy had used some kind of card that either boosted his monster or weakened Mikisugi's.

And then just as the boy was about to counterattack, Mikisugi used Mirror Force to demolish the entire field of his monsters. It was like Yasuko is seeing herself dueling him. She should have known that Mikisugi used the same method he did to the boy. The cries of the boy after losing his best card rings into her eardrums. She knows the boy didn't deserve to lose to the likes of Mikisugi.

But what's the point to Yasuko if she cannot defeat Mikisugi. He has her best card, and her monsters aren't strong enough to take on the electromagnetic warrior with the highest attack points.

Until one day, on a cloudy sky, she found a monster card that was somehow discarded. She didn't know who would want to discard a card in the middle of the road; yet, it looks intriguing. She never saw a Synchro monster before. There were no other cards like it. Exploder Dragonwing was her first real Extra Deck monster.

When she saw the first Synchro monster, her eyes were full of desire for knowledge. And then, something inside of Yasuko snapped open at the same time as the lightning clouds spit a bolt in the sky. The core inside of her somehow transforms her viewpoint to become something that she has not experienced. The feeling inside of Yasuko revolutionizes her charisma from the inside to the out. The once sad little girl was long gone because she turned into a new person with the first sentiment.

Anger.

For about a week, Yasuko would always hull herself in her room with cards on the bed, on the floor, on her bed, and on the table to work on what each of the cards can do to support each other. Mikisugi claimed that her deck was all mix and matches, and they were worthless, but she knows the cards better than anyone else, and she uses their abilities to the fullest. When her new deck was finished, she added her last piece; the Synchro Monster she found the other day into her deck.

As soon as school starts the next week, Yasuko recalls how she provoked the boy into dueling her by making one violent slap to swat Mikisugi's lunch off his desk and across the classroom where it hits the wall on the other side, spilling the food all over the floor. She didn't remember if all the other kids around in the classroom saw her defying Mikisugi.

News of Yasuko's declaration to duel Mikisugi spreads across her grade school. They know that Mikisugi is a good duelist, but what Yasuko knows that everyone else doesn't is that he is a cheat. And that's when it took only four turns to beat him with a Synchro Summon. Nobody hasn't heard of what Synchro Summon was until the Leo Corporation publicly announced the new summoning method two weeks later.

 **Turn 2: Yasuko (3x cards)**

It's been a long time since Yasuko dueled Mikisugi, and now she is dueling Mikisugi again at the LDS Stadium against the monsters that are more powerful than her own. So far, the match has been intense between the two of them. No matter how many times Yasuko tries to negate anything that stops her, Mikisugi would always stop her.

Mikisugi has his **Generaider Boss Stage** Field Spell Card along with his monster: **Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 3000/DEF 3000) (OU: 3)** , and his Continuous Trap Card: **Generaider Boss Room**.

Yasuko has only her **Magister of Endymion (ATK 1500/DEF 900)** **(Spell Counters: 2)** and **Mythical Beast Jackal King (ATK 2400/DEF 1600) (Spell Counter: 3)**. She has her Scale 3 **Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon** in her left Pendulum Zone, but no Pendulum monster on her right, rendering her unable to Pendulum Summon.

"Whoa," said Tate. "Mikisugi just did an Xyz Summon on Yasuko's turn."

"Yeah, and it's going to get worse," Allie replied.

"Mikisugi always seems to counter every move Yasuko makes," Frederick agreed.

Yuya and Zuzu were both looking at the jormungandr with concern. After seeing what the monster can do, they believe that Yasuko must find a way to beat the monster before it could deal some severe damage.

"Jormungandr gains 1000 ATK and DEF points for every Xyz Material," said Yuya. "If Mikisugi does it again, it'll get even stronger."

"Does Yasuko have a plan for that?" Zuzu asked her friend.

Despite the odds against Yasuko, Yuya still believes that she will make it. He knows that Yasuko is a good duelist, so he can only hope that Yasuko thinks of a way to beat Mikisugi's monster. "Of course," he assured. "I know Yasuko's going to make it; I just know it."

With no other options left, Yasuko has to end her turn. "I end my turn," she concluded.

 **Turn 3: Mikisugi (2x cards)**

The stadium is completely silent, watching the sheer power of the monster gaining more power to decimate the girl.

"So far, this duel has taken a turn for Yasuko," said Nico Smiley, announcing to the audience. "As long as Boss Stage and Boss Room are out on the field, Yasuko will have to think carefully before drawing herself an Action Card."

The You-Show are all watching their classmate getting into a tight spot with the jormungandr and the field spell out.

"This is going to be rough," said Allie, frightened by Mikisugi's monster.

Tate nodded. "Yasuko has no defenses against that thing with its ATK points," he explained. "."

"And not even Pendulum Summon wasn't enough," Frederick interjected. "It's like Mikisugi's got her right where he wants her."

Zuzu is also praying for her friend to make it through the tournament. She has already earned her victory and hopes that Yasuko can do the same. "Yasuko…" she whispered, almost pleading.

Meanwhile, Mikisugi makes his move of the turn. "My turn!" Mikisugi draws a card from his deck. "From my hand, I activate the Spell, Kuji-Kuri Curse!" Mikisugi activates the Spell Card: **Kuji-Kuri Curse**. "This card lets me send one level 9 monster from the field or hand to the graveyard to draw two cards," he explained. Mikisugi sends his **Utgarda, Generaider Boss of Delusions,** from his hand to the graveyard and draws two cards.

"And Jackal King's special effect activates," said Yasuko. "Remember, each time we activate a Spell, Jackal Kings gains two Spell Counters."

The jackal king glows a yellow-green aura around its body, gaining two more Spell Counters.

 **(Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counters 3** → **5)**

"it won't matter to me," Mikisugi responded. By giving a small glance at the two cards that he has drawn, his mouth gives off a small smile of satisfaction. "Excellent," he commented. "Now, it begins."

He takes out one of the cards and activates the Spell Card: **Generaider Boss Quest**. "I activate the Generaider Boss Quest Spell Card!" He places the spell on his blade. "This card lets me reveal one Generaider monster from my hand, and it lets me add two Generaider Spell and Trap Cards with different names from my deck to my hand!" He takes out one card and shows Yasuko his **Frodi, Generaider Boss of Swords**. "I reveal Frodi, Generaider Boss of Swords to add my Generaider Boss Loot and Boss Bite!" Two cards popped out from Mikisugi's deck, and the boy adds **Generaider Boss Loot** and **Generaider Boss Bite** from his deck to his hand. "Then, I place Frodi back to the bottom of my deck after using the spell." Mikisugi takes the card that he revealed to Yasuko back to the bottom of the deck.

"And Jackal King's effect activates!" Yasuko reminded. Once again, the jackal king glows a bright yellow-green aura after the spell resolves.

 **(Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counters 5** → **7)**

"I activate the Continuous Spell, Generaider Boss Loot!" Mikisugi activates the Continuous Spell Card that he added earlier. "As long as this card is out on the field, you cannot attack my Effect Generaider monsters as long as there is a Token!"

Nico is astonished that Mikisugi has toughened his defenses. "What a stupendous lockdown," he announced. "The Continuous Spell blocks Yasuko from attacking any of Mikisugi's non-Token monsters, and the Field Spell regenerates Tokens if Yasuko adds a card from her deck outside of the Draw Phase! This could be trouble!"

The You-Show are getting more worried about the field setup from Mikisugi. He's got right where Yasuko would want him.

"He's built himself a fortress down there," said Tate.

"I know what you mean," Frederick replied. "So, that means Yasuko can't attack any of his monsters because of that spell card."

"But, at least, Yasuko's monster gains two more Spell Counters," Allie reassured the two boys.

 **(Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counters 7** → **9)**

Mikisugi wasn't done with his turn just yet; he had other plans to deal with Yasuko and her monsters. "Yasuko, if you think I'm done right there, then you better think again," he said. "I detach one Overlay Unit to activate Jormungandr's effect!" One of the light brown Overlay Units that was circling the massive jormungandr bursts like a bubble to activate its effect.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 3** → **2)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 3000/DEF 3000** → **ATK 2000/DEF 2000)**

"Jackal King's special effect activates!" Yasuko responded. "When you activate a monster effect, I can remove two Spell Counters from my field to negate and destroy it!" She swings her hand over to command the jackal king to counter the monster's effect.

"You still haven't learned? I can activate Boss Room by discarding one card to make its effect become 'each player draws one card.'" Mikisugi discards one card, and both he and Yasuko draw one card. "Now, Jormungandr's effect continues." In addition to stopping the jackal king, Yasuko and Mikisugi both draw one card. Yasuko attaches **Dragonpulse Magician** from her hand, and Mikisugi attaches his **Dovelgus, Generaider** **Boss of Iron** from his hand as two more Overlay Units starts appearing around the neck base of the serpent

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 2** → **4)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 2000/DEF 2000** → **ATK 4000/DEF 4000)**

All of the You-Show audience and Gongenzaka were getting frightened by the amount of Xyz Material that it has.

"4000 ATK and DEF points? This is bad!" Tate panicked. "If this keeps up, Yasuko's going to get demolished!"

And if Tate doesn't know what can get worse, Mikisugi activates the field spell card that he has. Since Yasuko has drawn a card outside of her Draw Phase, Mikisugi can use the field spell card's effect."

"Next, Boss Stage's effect activates!" Mikisugi shouted. "When you add a card, I can Special Summon one Generaider monster from my deck and as many tokens as possible!" Mikisugi chooses one monster, and a card pops out to let Mikisugi Special Summon **Hela, Generaider Boss of Doom (ATK 800/DEF 2800)** in Defense Position and three **Generaider Tokens (Fairy/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500)** in Attack Position. "I Special Summon Hela, Generaider Boss of Doom!" From out of the portal, a goddess who has long obsidian hair and horns wearing a dark ragged, cloaking cape and a long black skirt that has purple paint dot decorations all over the dress and the hems while adoring a corset as she wields her staff that has a skull cap on top. Three multiple portals opened up, and three celestial mechanical fairies appeared on the field, filling the entire monster zones; and outnumbering Yasuko's.

"Next, I activate Hela's special effect!" Mikisugi added. "By tributing one Generaider monster, I can Special Summon one Generaider monster from my graveyard in Defense Position!" One of the Generaider Tokens from Miksugi's side of the field disappears into millions of dust sprinkling the entire ground. "I tribute my first token to Special Summon Loptr, Shadow of the Bosses from my graveyard!" Mikisugi tributes the token to Special Summon **Loptr, Shadow of the Bosses** in Defense Position. From the ground, a portal rips open to resurrect the loptr generiader shadow that was sleeping in the depths of the graveyard and returns to the field.

"Now, I'm activating Loptr's special effect! I tribute my second Generaider Token to Special Summon Frodi, Generadier Boss of Swords from my deck!" Mikisugi tributes his second token monster to Special Summon **Frodi, Generaider Boss of Swords** **(ATK 2500/DEF 2000)** in Attack Position. From the sky, the angelic warrior monster floats down with its golden feather wings flapping down to the ground in heavy gold armor with its massive sword in both the palms of its hand.

"Now, I activate Frodi's special effect!" Mikisugi decided. "By tributing any number of Generaider monsters, I can target monsters on your side of the field equal to the same number that I tributed and destroy them!" He raises a hand over to the monster. "I tribute Loptr and the third Generaider Token to destroy your Magister and Jackal King!" The frodi boss raises its sword over its head to summon two smaller portals above it as two swords shoot out to hit the two monsters.

"I activate Magister's special effect!" Yasuko declared. "During my opponent's turn, I can remove three Spell Counters from my field to Special Summon one monster from my deck that I can place a Spell Counter on!" She throws her hand over to the jackal king. "I remove three Spell Counters from my Jackal King to Special Summon Reflection of Endymion!" Three of the jackal king's spell counters were removed from the monster as Yasuko Special Summons **Reflection of Endymion (ATK 1850/DEF 2800)** in Defense Position.

 **(Mythical Beast Jackal King: Spell Counter 9 → 6)**

A tall, beautiful blond woman wearing a gold helmet over her head wearing a white drape that is outlined with gold helms and buttons while holding a smaller scepter and a pure gold metal container appears on the field. The reflection also gains a Spell Counter after making her appearance.

 **(Reflection of Endymion: Spell Counter 0 → 1)**

"Even so," said Mikisugi. "Your monsters are still going to get destroyed!" The two swords hit the magister and the jackal king and destroy them with a massive explosion.

"Now, battle!" Mikisugi declared. "Jormungandr, attack Reflection of Endymion!"

The earth serpent opens its jaws wide and lets out a sonic roar that crashes the building around it before hitting the reflection. Yasuko had to cover her ears as the roar blares to deaf her, making the girl groan as the reflection monster bursts into dust with a scream.

"Reflection's special effect activates!" Yasuko exclaimed. "When Reflection of Endymion had a Spell Counter, and she is destroyed, I can add one Endymion card from my deck to my hand!" A card pops out for Yasuko after she selects one and adds **Servant of Endymion**. "I add Servant of Endymion from my deck to my hand!"

"Alright!" Tate cheered. "And because Mikisugi activated his field spell already, that means Yasuko can draw any card outside of the Draw Phase!"

"So, she baited him to use his monster's effect?" Allie asked.

"It's a bold strategy for Yasuko right there," Sora complimented. "She's probably already working on a plan to demolish that field."

"It won't save you this time!" Mikisugi exclaimed. "Frodi, attack Yasuko directly!" The frodi boss swings its sword over its head to crash it into the ground, causing it to send a massive shockwave over to Yasuko. The girl brings up her arms and braces herself as the force of the shockwaves lifted the girl and sent her flying backward. Yasuko shouts as she lands the ground on her back, taking the battle damage.

 **(Yasuko: LP 4000** → **1500)**

"Oh, no!" Zuzu shouted.

"Yasuko!" Yuya called.

"Her life points!" The three little kids gasped.

"What an explosive power!" Nico Smiley commented from his microphone. "After crossing controls against one another, Mikisugi has finally dealt battle damage to Yasuko!"

Yuya and Zuzu are showing their worries to the girl. They felt that the situation is becoming grimmer with each turn passing.

"One more attack from either of Mikisugi's monsters, and it's all over," Yuya stated.

Gongenzaka was watching the duel with narrows eyes, concentrating on the duel. "Seems like Yasuko's going to be having trouble if this goes on," he said.

Yasuko is feeling the back stinging with discomfort after the hard landing and the devastating blow to her life points. She grunts as she struggles to stand back up. She manages to lift her head over, staring at Mikisugi with animosity.

"Damn it," she cursed. Yasuko turns herself over before standing back up. She removes some of the bangs that were sticking on her forehead and mouth.

Mikisugi takes out one card and Sets it. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn," he concluded. "Now, it's your move, Yasuko, I want to see how much stronger you've gotten since you did that Pendulum Summon, but I don't think you've got what it takes, don't you?" he sneered. "I end my turn."

 **Turn 4: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko doesn't take the insult very well and makes her turn by drawing a card. "My turn!" she exclaimed.

"And my turn to activate Jormungandr's special effect!" Mikisugi interrupted. "I detach one Overlay Unit to have the both of us draw a card and attach one card from either hand or field to it!" One of the glowing brown Overlay Units bursts like a bubble, decreasing the jormungandr's attack power significantly.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 4** → **3)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 4000/DEF 4000** → **ATK 3000/DEF 3000)**

Both duelists draw a card, and they have to attach one card from the field or their hands to the jormungandr.

"So, which card will you be attaching Jormungandr?" Mikisugi asked, almost teasingly. "I bet you've got some powerful monster that you can use right now?"

After drawing a card, Yasuko looks down at her hand, and it has everything that she needs to beat the jormungandr, but she cannot risk losing one card from her hand until the time is right, so she makes the most robust choice that would shock the entire arena.

"I attach my Odd-Eyes Persona Dragon from my Pendulum Zone to Jormungandr," Yasuko declared.

As expected from Yasuko herself, everyone in the stadium is flabbergasted by her decision to attach the behemoth monster using one of her cards from the Pendulum Zone.

"What?! Is Yasuko going to attach her Pendulum monster to the Mikisugi's monster!?" Nico called, shocked.

The You-Show were all shaken by the decision as well. They can't believe that Yasuko's going to risk her own Pendulum Summon.

"Shes' going to attach Odd-Eyes from her Pendulum Zone?!" Allie gasped. "Is she crazy?!"

"Pendulum Summon is her key to victory, but she's going to get rid of her Odd-Eyes?" Tate inquired.

"Why would she do that?" Frederick questioned.

Yuya is also having questions popping in his head as he thinks of what Yasuko might be planning. "Yasuko, what are you up to?" he asked, watching the red persona dragon in Yasuko's Pendulum Zone disappear into a brown Overlay Unit.

Mikisugi had a second Overlay Unit already in the air, and both Xyz Materials fly over to power up the jormungandr.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 3** → **5)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 3000/DEF 3000** → **ATK 5000/DEF 5000)**

"Now, Boss Stage's effect activates!" Mikisugi added. With the field spell card active, Mikisugi selects one Generaider monster that he can use and Special Summons **Mardel, Generaider Boss of Light (ATK 2400/DEF 2400)** in Defense Position and one **Generaider Token (Fairy/LIGHT/Level 4/ATK 1500/DEF 1500)** in Attack Position. A beautiful blonde fairy wearing light green regailia with blue butterfly wings and a flora hairpin crown appears on the field with one Generaider fairy.

"Mardel's special effect activates! When she is Special Summoned, I can add one "Generaider" card from my deck to my hand!" A card pops out from the deck, and Mikisugi adds **Naglfar, Generaider Boss of Fire**. "Now, the conditions are set! I activate my Trap! Generaider Boss Bite!" Mikisugi flips up his face-down Trap Card: **Generaider Boss Bite**. "This card lets me tribute any number of Generaider monsters from my field to attach the same number of Generaider monsters that is in my hand, field, or graveyard to Jormungandr!" Mikisugi selects his monsters and tributes the token and mardel. "I tribute my token and Mardel to attach Naglfar, and Loptr from my graveyard to Jormungandr!"

Two more light brown Overlay Units flies overhead to rove around the jormungandr, increasing its attack and defense power.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 5** → **7)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: ATK 5000/DEF 5000** → **ATK 7000/DEF 7000)**

The three little kids are all shocked that Mikisugi has increased the monster's power even further to make it impossible for Yasuko to defend.

"7000 ATK and DEF points!?" Tate gasped. "That's insane!"

"It's going to be getting stronger than ever," Frederick panicked. "Yasuko has to do something, or else she is done for!"

Yasuko looks down at her two cards that could turn the tide of the match and proceeds to Set two cards on her side of the field. "I Set two cards, face-down and end my turn!" Yasuko concluded.

 **Turn 5: Mikisugi (1x card)**

Almost the entire arena was flabbergasted from Yasuko's decision to end her turn with just two face-downs. "What? That's it?" Mikisugi inquired. "You only set two face-downs, and call it a turn?" He makes a small sound of disgust after seeing Yasuko's final turn. "I'd expected better than that, Yukihana."

Yasuko, meanwhile, was thinking hard on Mikisugi's next move. She knows that the field spell card can let Mikisugi Special Summon one Generaider monster from his deck and as many of the tokens to the field. She's being mindful of what Mikisugi is going to do in his turn. _"You know, Mikisugi,"_ she thought. _"I think of what you're going to do next."_ She looks down at the two face-down cards that are on her side of the field. " _And if my hunch is correct, then I can bet that you will be leading me into an assault that will end my life points."_

The You-Show people are all worried about Yasuko's well-being now that she has no monsters on the field and only her magister in her Pendulum Zone.

"Two face-downs?!" Zuzu inhaled, shocked by Yasuko's final decision to call her turn. "That's it?!"

"This is bad," said Frederick, holding his hands to his head as if he's about to have a headache. "This is really bad."

"How is Yasuko going to beat Mikisugi now?" Tate inquired.

Sora licked his lollipop and simply looks at the field with a blank expression on his face. "I'd say that Yasuko's going to be getting herself a world of trouble now," he said.

"It's my turn now!" Mikisugi declared. "I draw!" Mikisugi draws a card from his deck. "Now, it's time to put an end to this match once and for all!" He raises his hand over to the jormungandr. "I activate Jormungandr's special effect!" One of the brown Overlay Units bursts like a bubble to activate the monster's effect.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 7** → **6)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 7000/DEF 7000** → **ATK 6000/DEF 6000)**

With each player drawing a card from their decks, they have to make a choice.

"I choose to attach this card from my hand." While Mikisugi attaches one card from his hand, Yasuko makes another reckless move.

"And I choose to attach…my Magister!" Yasuko's announcement has stunned everyone in the stadium. They weren't expecting Yasuko to even do something like sending away her own monster in her Pendulum Zone.

"What?!" The three little kids exclaimed.

"She's going to attach her Pendulum monster?" Yuya inquired.

"What is she thinking?!" Gongenzaka boomed, who is just as shocked as everyone else. "She's going to risk everything for something like that?"

Mikisugi starts to raise an eyebrow. "You're getting rid of your monster?" he asked. "What are you up to now, Yukihana?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes over to the boy across from her. "I'm going to show you what kind of a duelist I am right now with Pendulum on my side," she said. "And with my magister now attached to your monster, your jormungandr gains another 1000 ATK and DEF points for each material that it has."

Two more light brown Overlay Units rove around the jormungandr monster, giving it more power and defense.

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity: OU 6** → **8)**

 **(Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity (ATK 6000/DEF 6000** → **ATK 8000/DEF 8000)**.

Mikisugi is getting suspicious of what Yasuko is planning to do. It is different than what he was expecting. The look of determination from Yasuko's face shows how strong she is going through everything that he's thrown at her. Regardless, he's going to end the duel right now.

"I switch my Hela into Attack Position," he said, rotating the hela goddess into Attack Position.

"This is the end, Yasuko Yukihana!" Mikisugi declared. "I will now defeat you and earn my place in the Arc League Championship!" He points at the girl across from her. "Battle! Jormungandr, attack Yasuko directly!"

The giant earth serpent crawls past the boy, crashing into several buildings to finish off the girl once and for all.

The You-Show people and Gongenzaka are now terrified that Yasuko has left herself wide open for the direct attack.

"If this attack goes through," said Tate. "It's all over for Yasuko!"

"Oh, I can't watch!" Frederick wailed, covering his eyes.

"Me either!" Allie agreed, covering her eyes too.

Yuya was at the edge of his seat, watching the girl getting ready to confront the attack. He was gripping his seat tightly as if he's about to rip the chair up. "C'mon…Yasuko…" he whispered.

The jormungandr was coming in close, opening its massive jaws over to get ready to strike and obliterate Yasuko and all of her life points. Like a snake posing its fangs, the jormungandr springs forward and opens its jaws. Just before the jormungandr can finish off the girl, Yasuko was ready to confront the beast.

"I activate the Trap!" Yasuko makes a bold declaration that surprised everyone on the field. "Counter Gate!" She throws her hand to the front to flip up her Trap Card: **Counter Gate**.

The jormungandr was about to chomp the girl in its massive jaws, but an invisible force field was blocking the monster in front of the girl, barely an inch from touching Yasuko's fingers. "Counter Gate negates one of your direct attacks and lets me draw a card, and if it's a monster, I can Normal Summon it."

Yasuko places two fingers on top of her deck. She breaths steadily, getting ready to draw one more time to change the game. She inhales, and with one quick swipe, she draws a card. By looking at the card that she has drawn, it was a monster, and thankfully, a lower level monster.

"I drew a monster, so that means I can Summon Mythical Beast Garuda!" Due to the effect of her trap, Yasuko Normal Summons **Mythical Beast Garuda (ATK 1200/DEF 1600)**. From Yasuko's field is a different kind of Mythical Beast: a man-sized hybrid beast that has two heads; the right halve is an eagle, and the other half is a blue wolf spirit.

"That won't save you this time, Yasuko!" Mikisugi retorted. "Fordi, attack Garuda!"

The frodi slices its sword to create a shockwave over to blast the garuda beast away, creating a massive explosion that sends Yasuko flying back.

 **(Yasuko: LP 1500** → **200)**

The girl gives a loud grunt after taking the head before landing hard on the ground with a very painful thud.

"Yasuko!" Yuya called, standing up from his seat.

"Her life points!" Zuzu exclaimed. "If she takes another hit, she's done for!"

"Oh, my word!" Nico Smiley has made his comment from the loudspeakers. "After taking such a heavy blow, it seems this might be the end for Yasuko!"

Yasuko is feeling exhausted with every turn passing by. Her life points are shallow, but it's the exact moment that she needed. "I activate my Trap! Defense Draw!" Yasuko shouted as she activates the Trap Card: **Defense Draw**. "During the damage calculations, all damage I take goes to zero, and I get to draw a card!" As Yasuko slowly pries herself back up, she places a shaky finger at the deck. Yasuko looks down at the deck with the hope that she has the card that she needs to turn the duel around.

Mikisugi is feeling so frustrated right about now. "Are you kidding me?" he growled. "What's with you? Every time someone pushes you to the corner, you always come back on top! How could you continue fighting even when you have no hope of defeating me?" he shouted.

Yasuko's eyes blink once as she gazes up to take a long stare at Mikisugi. She wasn't sure if she should feel sorry for the boy because of some mistake that he did to her. Either way goes, she isn't going to give up so quickly. She knows that Melania is watching her, and she isn't going to let the sight of her defeat not be in vain. "As long as I still have even the smallest amount of life points left," she called. "I will not stop right here, and neither will I stop right now." Yasuko narrows her eyes at the top of her deck.

" _C'mon, deck,"_ Yasuko thought. " _I've built you from all the cards that I've acquires since I came to this city, so you've gotta give me the one card that I need to turn this around."_ She hardens her eyes, twitching her fingers on top of her deck. Yasuko draws a card so fast that it left a light trail behind. When she glances at the card that she has drawn, Yasuko stares back at the boy with less hate.

"Mikisugi," Yasuko called to him. "What you did to me was indeed unforgivable, and I can never forgive you for that, but you learned from your mistakes, and we are now on equal foot ground," said Yasuko. "However, I've been studying your strategies based on what the deck is capable of since the start of the duel, and I've been using your strategy to my advantage."

"What?" Mikisugi enquired, caught by surprise.

Yasuko then pointed at the boy and said, "By getting rid of my magister and activate my traps, I've got what I need. During the end of the Battle Phase, if I control no cards on my field, I can play this Trap from my hand!" Yasuko takes out the one card that she drew earlier to activate the Trap Card: **Evenly Matched**. "I activate the Trap! Evenly Matched!"

"From your hand!?" Mikisugi gasped, dumbfounded from seeing a trap card being activated from the hand.

"No way!" Yuya, Sora, and Zuzu both exclaimed together.

"She's activating a Trap card from her hand?!" Gongenzaka inquired.

"Amazing!" The three little kids gasped altogether."

The whole stadium is watching the girl with close attention as the trap card revealed itself on the field. "This trap card can only be activated from my hand if I control no cards," Yasuko explained. "At the end of the Battle Phase, if you control more cards than I do, you have to banish _all_ the cards that are on your field until you have the exact same number of cards that I control!"

The You-Show duelists are thrilled that Yasuko has found a way to make her opponent lose all the cards that are on the field.

"So, that's what she's been doing all this time!" Tate realized. "She's been using the Mikisugi's monster effect!"

"That's incredible!" Allie praised. "Mikisugi was forcing Yasuko to draw, but she's been riding along with it because she needed that one card."

Shuzo was so impressed with Yasuko that he places a hand under his chin to look at her with amazement. "Using your own opponent's strategy to your advantage," he said. "That's an incredible plan right there."

Sora gives a small satisfied smirk. "Looks like Yasuko's got this one in the bag," he said.

Mikisugi grits his teeth He should've seen it, but Yasuko played him right from the moment he created his deadlock strategy. He thought that he cut off all of the cards that are in her deck, but instead had it all sorted out after. "Damn it…" he hissed. "Is this what you've been planning all this time? You've been using my monster's effect to draw more cards?"

"Should've paid attention to what I was aiming for, Mikisugi," Yasuko replied. "Now, you have to choose which cards get banished and one card that stays."

Mikisugi was looking at the field with a nasty glare. He thought of which cards that are going to get banished and sends away his hela goddess, frodi, the trap, the field spell, and the other continuous spell, leaving only his jormungandr. "I banish my Hela, Frodi, Boss Loot, Room, and Stage from my field to save my jormungandr," he said regretfully. "And, I end my turn."

At once, all of the monsters, including the spells and traps that Mikisugi has on the field, disappeared, leaving only his jormungandr remaining.

"Mikisugi's strategy backfired on him!" Nico Smiley announced from the microphone. "While Mikisugi has Yasuko under his control, the young duelist has managed to use his own strategy to make a comeback!"

"Mikisugi, you said that the dueling club disbanded because I left, right?" Yasuko questioned. "That's because they never see anything inside of them."

"What are you talking about?" Mikisugi asked. "The dueling club disbanded because you quit on them."

"No," Yasuko protested. "I didn't quit the dueling club because they weren't weak; I quit because they were relying too much on me," she continued on to explain more regarding her past with the dueling club. "The dueling club was so eager to get more members that when I received the invitation to be in the Tokyo Regional Frontier Games, I couldn't take it. I quit because they were putting pressure into me that they've forgotten their own strengths and weakness."

Mikisugi's eyes are slowly widening. It as if he's grasped onto something. "What are you saying?" he asked.

"I don't want anyone to rely on me all the time," said Yasuko. "The dueling club couldn't do squat because they've been telling me to keep going. I hated that. I hate it when people are counting on you all the time, and I hate the pressure that everyone was giving me, so that was my reason why I quit in the first place.

"I didn't want to get myself involved with another duel club or any duel school again, but the You-Show Duel School is something different. I've seen some people who've put their minds straight to get themselves to be where they are at in this Arc League Championship."

 **Turn 6: Yasuko (5x cards)**

Yasuko places a finger on top of her deck. "People like the You-Show Duel School showed me that they are willing to push themselves to the limit to be the best on their own strength," she said. "And, I'm going to keep pushing _only_ myself back up and go beyond my limits!" With a strong swing of her arm, Yasuko draws a card from her deck. "My turn! I draw!"

Yasuko takes a look at the card, and it was revealed to be the Spell Card: **Odd-Eyes Fusion**. "I Set the Pendulum Scale with Scale 2 Servant of Endymion and Scale 8 Dragonpit Magician!" Yasuko exclaimed. "I'm going to take back control of this duel right now!" And so, Yasuko places the **Servant of Endymion (Scale 2)** and the **Dragonpit Magician (Scale 8)** into her Pendulum Zones, reforming the rainbow "Pendulum" word on her blue blade.

From the two pillars of light, a blonde female spellcaster wearing a gold spell counter mask over her eyes wearing a dark green cloak that has a hood and gray techno-style tight pants with green boots holding two scepters, and a male, dragonpit sorcerer with blond spiked hair and large coat over his jumpsuit wielding a staff that has a big circle at the end floats above Yasuko inside the two pillars with their respective Pendulum Scale numbers underneath them.

"You said that you were defeated because you were weak? That's where I've risen from," Yasuko clarified. "After you cheated me, I felt like it was hopeless to continue on dueling, that I would just want to give up on my deck, but as I look back at our last duel, the mistake that I made was my doubt to become better than what I was good at."

Yasuko raises her duel disk a little higher "That's what my deck was based on," she said. "This deck contains everything that represents my despair, and every time that I lose, it solidifies me. The more I lose, the stronger I get. Those who are willing to continue to push forward even when they are at their most vulnerable can endure."

Yuya was listening to Yasuko's words. Yasuko has always come back through anything that is hellish and always comes back stronger than ever. She has been through a lot more than he's ever been from his bullying issues to his father's disappearance.

"Thanks to Pendulum, I've risen back from my despair in this tournament and get back to finish what I've started," said Yasuko. "With these two monsters, I can Pendulum Summon any monsters from level 3 to 7 all at the same time!" She raises her hand over to the sky. " _Hear my soul roaring upon thy! I call forth the energy of my heart to unleash the flame of solemnity from within! I_ _ **Pendulum Summon**_ _! Bring forth, my monsters!"_ A portal opens up above Yasuko with four beams of light raining down to make four monsters.

"I bring back from my Extra Deck: Reflection of Endymion, Mythical Beast Jackal King, Mythical Beast Medusa, and my most faithful monster of all! Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon!" Yasuko Pendulum Summons. **Reflection of Endymion** , **Mythical Beast Jackal King** , **Mythical Beast Medusa** , and **Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon**.

The reflection, jackal king, medusa, and Odd-Eyes Phantom both reappear back on the field as the blue dragon roars to life after being resurrected.

The whole stadium is cheering on for the girl to make a comeback. They were giving their lungs out all the screams and cheers they could muster to Yasuko.

The You-Show are seeing all four of Yasuko's monsters back on the field.

"Yasuko did her Pendulum Summon!" Tate beamed. "This is getting good!"

"Alright, Yasuko!" Allie praised. "Hooray!"

"I think my shivers are coming back!" Frederick squealed

"Go, Yasuko, go!" Yuya cheered on or his friend.

"You can do it!" Zuzu pressed on.

Yasuko can practically hear the You-Show people giving her the spirit to beat Mikisugi and earn her place in the Arc League Championship. She is going for it. "Next, I activate the Spell, Odd-Eyes Fusion!" Yasuko activates the Spell Card: **Odd-Eyes Fusion**. "This card lets me Fusion Summon one Dragon monster from my Extra Deck using the materials that are in my hand or field!" She picks her medusa and Odd-Eyes Phantom to make her Pendulum-Fusion. The medusa and Odd-Eyes Phantom floats above Yasuko before disappearing inside the swirling vortex of red and blue in the sky. Yasuko claps her hands together before she extends wide.

" _Dark blue dragon with beautiful heterochromia red and green eyes, merge together with the mythical medusa and form the new dragon who will bring the storms of venturing winds!_ I _**Fusion Summon**_ _! Come forth, Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon!"_ Yasuko Fusion Summons **Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 3000)** in Defense Position.

From the swirling vortex, a new Odd-Eyes variant appears on the field. Its body resembles the same shape and design of Odd-Eyes Phantom Dragon, but the vortex dragon version is a green armored plating over its dark blue scales with four turbine wings from the backbone of the dragon as it glows its red and blue heterochromia eyes. The vortex dragon roars to everyone's eardrums.

The You-Show are feeling more energized than ever after seeing Yasuko's new Odd-Eyes variant. They were at the edges of their seat, looking at the monster with excitement.

"That looks so cool," Tate chirped. "A brand-new Odd-Eyes!"

"Yasuko did a Pendulum-Fusion Summon," Allie beamed. "You go, Yasuko!"

"Yes, I've got the shivers back!" Frederick squealed.

Yasuko wasn't done with her move just yet. She still needs to create the best way of dealing with the jormungandr monster. "Now, I activate Nobledragon Magician's special effect from the graveyard!"

Mikisugi was caught off guard after her exclamation. "From the graveyard?!" he gasped.

"If I have a level 7 or higher 'Odd-Eyes,' I can reduce its level by 3 to Special Summon it!" The card that Yasuko discard to activate her previous spell card returns back to let her take it. "With it, I decrease my Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon by 3 to Special Summon my Tuner monster, Nobledragon Magician!" By decreasing her strongest monster's level, Yasuko Special Summons **Nobledragon Magician (ATK 700/DEF 1400)** , the little childlike, nobledragon priestess with purple hair wearing a decorative, patterned white garb and a nun hat wielding the big fork tuning staff that is too big for her to handle. With her appearance, the vortex dragon's level is decreased by three.

 **(Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon: Level 7** → **4)**

Mikisugi was getting scared as the girl makes her move. "W-when did you have that card in the graveyard?" he asked. "You never had that in the graveyard before."

"Perhaps, if you can recall when I used my Mythical Bestiary spell, then you'll know," Yasuko recalled.

Mikisugi lets out a gasp, suddenly remembering the second move that Yasuko did on her first turn. When she activated her spell, she must've sent the monster to the graveyard that was the cost. "You mean…from before?" he asked. "You planned this far ahead, knowing that I would keep increasing the number of times we draw from my monster's effect?"

"I didn't," Yasuko replied. "I had to keep every possible option in my disposal as opened as possible." Her face gets serious as she raises a hand to the sky.

"I tune my level 3 Nobledragon Magician with my level 4 Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon to Synchro Summon!" The nobledragon priestess brings up her tuning fork staff to let the violet orb between the rods glow, transforming herself into three sets of green rings. The rings scan the vortex dragon until it was nothing but its four orbs and shoots out the bright light out of it.

" _Born from the flames of meteor showers, the red dragon with heterochromia eyes of red and blue! Fall to the earth and blow away all of my enemies! I_ _ **Synchro Summon!**_ _Rain down, Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon!"_ Yasuko Synchro Summons **Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. From the sky, a meteorite comes falling fast on the ground before it dissolves into a new form of Odd-Eyes to land safely at the tower where Yasuko is standing. The second form of Odd-Eyes is a dragon that has the same red and blue heterochromia eyes, but instead, it has burning red hot armored scales and purple underbelly skin."

"Whoa! What an entrance right there!" Nico announced. "Yasuko went from Pendulum to Fusion to a Synchro Summon at the instant! This here folks could be Yuya Sakaki's newest rival into Pendulum!"

The crowd is going wild in full of exhilaration and joy after Yasuko demonstrated her Synchro Summon. Even the You-Show are astonished of how the girl was able to summon her new Odd-Eyes monster.

"Wow! Look at that!" Sora exclaimed, pointing at Yasuko's new Odd-Eyes form. "Yasuko did a Synchro Summon!"

"That's amazing," said Zuzu, astonished. "When did Yasuko had time to perfect that kind of technique in her deck?"

"She modified her deck last night," Yuya answered.

"I can't believe that you weren't kidding about Yasuko doing a Fusion and Synchro Summon," Sora beamed. "Just watching this match makes me so excited for my _own_ duel next."

The roar of the crowd is fazing through Yasuko completely. It felt different than before from her duel against Arielle and Satsuki. It wasn't getting into her head anymore. She thought of her duel with Arielle and Satsuki. The noise and the people around the stadium are breezing around her like they're the winds blowing to her.

Yasuko scrutinized her eyes to Mikisugi. "I'm not done just yet, Mikisugi," she declared. "With the level 7 Reflection of Endymion and Odd-Eyes Meteorburst Dragon, I build the Overlay Network!"

The reflection and the meteorburst dragon transform into a yellow and red light before the two lights fly up and drop down into the galaxy portal. The portal underneath Yasuko's feet burst a bright light from the ground.

" _The swinging Pendulum breaks through the dragon of red and blue eyes! Rise up and bring forth an endless winter of ice! I_ _ **Xyz Summon**_ _! Appear! Rank 7! Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon!"_ Yasuko Xyz Summons **Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon (ATK 2800/DEF 2500)** in Attack Position. The third Odd-Eyes variant is a dragon covered in entire blocks of ice from the head all the way down to the tail on its spine with four ice wings from the backbone sticking outwards as its red and blue heterochromia eyes glowed with one horn on the right side of the red-eye with two blue Overlay Units roving around the dragon.

Gongenzaka is getting pumped up and raises his fist in the air. "That's one heck of a combo right there," he cheered. "If she were to enroll at my dojo, she'd be the best student in the school."

The whole stadium had their jaws dropped after seeing Yasuko's third Extra Deck summon, and they loved it more as each combo goes on.

"And third time's the charm," said Tate, looking at Yasuko with bright eyes. "Yasuko Xyz Summons a different Odd-Eyes."

"Yasuko did all four Summons in one turn," Frederick stated. "She's definitely going to make my shivers last all day!"

"She's awesome!" Allie cheered.

Yuya was beaming a proud expression at Yasuko for finally using her Extra Deck, and her Pendulum Summon in front of thousands of people. He is sure that after this match, he's going to make sure that he will bring the best Entertainment Duel. "Yasuko, you're doing it!" he called. "You can do it!

Mikisugi was looking at Yasuko with shock written in his face. Clearly, he's underestimated how the girl was able to adopt Pendulum Summon to her advantage. "How's this possible?" he asked. "This…this is unbelievable. I had only heard about this Pendulum Summon about a month ago, and now, you were able to harness and perfect this new summon in just a month?"

Yasuko's narrowed eyes focus on the boy. "I've only grasped this new Pendulum Summon ability, Mikisugi," she said. "I still have a long road ahead for myself." She then throws her hand over to Mikisugi. "And starts with your defeat! Now, battle! Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon, attack Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity!"

Yasuko has stunned everyone at the stadium. Many jaws were dropped over Yasuko's insane move to confront a monster with only zero points. "What the— _What_!?" Shuzo shrieked, almost like a girl, shocked that his best student is doing something crazy again. "She's going to attack that powerful monster with a weaker monster?!"

"Why does she keep doing this to us!?" Zuzu shrieked, annoyed by Yasuko's reckless move.

Even Mikisugi was taken back by her decision to attack his monster. "Are you crazy?!" he accused. "My Jormungandr's got _way_ more ATK points than that ice dragon there!"

The absolute dragon charges forward with its ice feet stomping on the street before the dragon jumps up with its jaws open. The absolute dragon lets out a powerful ice blizzard to freeze the jormungandr.

"I was prepared for that!" Yasuko called. "I activate Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon's special effect! By detaching one Overlay Unit, if any duelists declare an attack, once per turn, I can negate that attack, and then Special Summon one Odd-Eyes monster from my hand or graveyard!" The blizzard dies down after one of the Overlay Units from the absolute dragon explodes like a bubble.

 **(Odd-Eyes Absolute Dragon: OU 2** → **1)**

"I Special Summon Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon from my graveyard!" Yasuko Special Summons **Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon** in Attack Position. A doorway opens, and the vortex dragon emerges from the gateway with a loud roar.

Mikisugi raised an eyebrow, full of confusion. "What will be the point of that?" he asked. "All you did was waste an Overlay Unit."

"It wasn't a waste, Mikisugi," Yasuko protested. "I needed to attack you so that I can activate Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon's special effect." She raises her hand over to her vortex dragon. "When this monster is Special Summoned, I can target one of my opponent's Attack Positioned monster on the field and return it to the hand."

Her words make Mikisugi's eyes widen in shock. "What?!" Mikisugi gasped.

Yasuko points at the jormungandr. "And the monster that I targeted is your Jormungandr, Generaider Boss of Eternity!" The vortex dragon spreads out its turbine wings and flaps them once before it repetitively does it again until a hurricane forms from behind the dragon. "Vortex Whirlwind!" The hurricane was strong enough to make the boy coward from the current as the jormungandr makes one last screech before it bursts into clouds of dust.

Mikisugi was looking up to the spot where his monster used to be. "My monster!" he cried. "No, my Jormungandr!"

"And don't forget that it's still my Battle Phase!" Yasuko reminded, causing the boy to turn to her. "Jackal King and Odd-Eyes Vortex Dragon, attack Mikisugi directly!" The jackal king starts to run after the boy, like a real jackal. The vortex dragon opens its jaws and lets out a sharp whirlwind breath to boost the jackal king's running speed.

The combined winds and the jackal king was strong enough to shatter some of the windows nearby from the buildings. The jackal king was running at the top speed of over forty miles per hour as its body turns into a blue flame at one point.

Mikisugi can't do anything at this point. With his field gone and his monster vanished, he screams as the blue flaming jackal king does a headbutt to him, and the ground erupted in a massive explosion that sends the boy flying back with his body skidding across the street. He grunts and shouts until he stops with all of his life points wiped out in an OTK.

 **(Mikisugi: LP 4000** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yasuko Yukihana**

Yasuko stands triumph before the Action Field disperses along with her monsters, restoring the scene back to the original glass arena.

The crowd was giving loud applause to the girl for a splendid performance. They are full of energy, giving praise to Yasuko, whistling to the girl like she was the star. The You-Show and Gongenzaka clap their hands.

"It-it's all over, folks!" Nico announced. "Ladies and Gentlemen, after a very intense counterattack, and the final comeback, the winner of this match for the second day, is the new star pupil of You-Show Duel School and her Pendulum Summon, Yasuko Yukihana!"

The applause got even louder than before, giving praise to the girl who can Pendulum Summon.

"What a duel!" Tate cheered. "That was spectacular!"

"So awesome!" Frederick applauded. "To see her Pendulum, Synchro, Fusion, and Xyz Summon all at once! My shiver isn't going to be away after this!"

Allie had to stand on her seat to make very fast claps and shouts to the girl. "Hooray! Yasuko won!" she screamed. "She won her first match in the Arc League Championship!"

"Yasuko Yukihana!" Shuzo praised, comedian tears were streaming from his eyes, just like how Zuzu won her first match. "You are, without a doubt, one of my best students in the school! Ohhhh, my blood is boiling hot right now!"

"Now, that is how you duel!" Gongenzaka boomed, all fired up after seeing Yasuko's impenetrable defense combo.

Sora was all fried up too, hopping from his seat like a bunny. "Oh, I can't wait for my match soon!" he shouted.

Zuzu had fresh tears filling her eyes. After the struggle with Mikisugi, Yasuko manages to break through and win. "She did it!" she cried with joy. "She did it! That was very amazing!" She wipes some away to stop them from leaking any further. "Yasuko did it!"

Yuya is feeling very proud of Yasuko. She was able to use Pendulum Summon to beat her opponent and earned her the right to advance in the next tournament after that. "Good job, Yasuko…" he said, glad that she can finally embrace her Pendulum. "Just you wait, I'll be catching up soon."

Meanwhile, Yasuko approaches to her opponent and could see the look of defeat in his face.

Mikisugi is sure that he was going to cry even after all the effort that he put upon. "I can't believe it," he said. "I still can't believe it." His face grimaces in pain, not form the physical injuries but from the humiliation of his defeat. "Why? Why do I keep on losing? Even after working so hard to get stronger, I still lost to you. I don't get it. What makes you so special? How come you can do the things like that Pendulum Summon of yours?" he demanded.

Yasuko blinks once. "That's the point," she said. "When you fell into defeat, Mikisugi, you always have negative thoughts that are like a virus that cannot be cured. It drags you down to the point where you cannot get back up with a heavyweight." She paused before continuing, "But…I should say thank you for beating me before."

Mikisugi blinks once in surprise. "What?"

"If you hadn't beaten me, I would've been the same old curious little girl who has no conscious in this world." Yasuko looks up at the sky, "And what makes me special, you ask? Well, I'm not," she confided. "I'm just a girl who duels."

Mikisugi soon came to realize something about the girl. No matter how many times Yasuko does something amazing like her Pendulum Summon that thrills the audience, she doesn't seem to be bothered by how her talents got everyone's attention because she is only a girl who duels with no purpose just yet.

Yasuko bends over to let a helping hand. "Need a hand?" she offered.

Mikisugi was confused at first, but then there was something different with the girl. She is now more mature than she was before. She isn't going to lash out on him or making an angry scowl. Her face is more peaceful than ever. He can't help but exhale and grabs her and before Yasuko pulls him up.

"Still after that, why?" Mikisugi asked.

Yasuko shrugs. "I don't know," she said. "Probably because of my student."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, the You-Show are an odd bunch," Yasuko admitted. "But I guess I could say…they know freedom more than anyone else in this city. Their duel style is not my taste, but they're all about freedom, and that's what makes them unique. No matter how hard I was or whoever was being an asshole to them, they always tend to get along with everyone."

A hand sticks out in front of Yasuko, and the girl turns to find out that Mikisugi was offering his hand to her.

"What are you doing?" Yasuko asked.

"To make amends," Mikisugi said awkwardly. "I…just want to say that I'm sorry after all the things that I've done to you, and—" He turns his head away with a blush rolling in his cheeks, "—I admit; I was a total jackass when we were kids, but this is different. We're not in primary school anymore, and this is a serious business. And because of how you managed to use my deck strategy to your advantage, I'd say that you're an even better duelist than I thought."

Yasuko raises an eyebrow. Looking down at hand, she didn't think that her bully is kind enough to make reparations. "Uh…thank you…Mikisugi?" she responded, confused. She takes his hand and shakes it.

"Yeah, whatever, and uh…good luck on your tournament, anyways." And with that, Mikisugi turns around and marches out of the arena.

Yasuko isn't sure what to feel after her duel with Mikisugi, but whatever she did made him be more of a different person.

After her duel, Yasuko makes her way back to the stands. As she exits out, she was confronted with a hug from Allie. "Congratulations, Yasuko!" she beamed. Soon everyone else from the You-Show approaches her.

"That was amazing back there," said Sora.

Yasuko looks at everyone from Yuya to the two little kids in the sector. "You were incredible, Yasuko," Yuya smiled. "To think you have three different kinds of Odd-Eyes is a sight that got me all fired up for my match."

Zuzu nodded. "Yeah, you were awesome," she said. "I'm so glad that you won."

Yasuko pats Allie's head like she was a cat as she turns to Zuzu. "Perhaps I could say that Pendulum is now growing onto me." She looks up at the stands and notices that Melania is watching her. Her narrow eyes frown at her as Yasuko makes the same scowl. For a second later, Melania retreats into the hallways to leave.

"Here, this belongs to you," Zuzu said as she gives Yasuko back her gym back.

"Oh goody, I'm starving." Yasuko unzips her gym bag with her packed sandwiches to eat.

Nico's voice over the loudspeakers calls in for the next two opponents of the match. "Well, people, this battle may be over, but there is still another that's about to begin! Yuya Sakaki of You-Show Duel School and Sylvio Sawatari of the Leo Institute, please report to the front immediately!"

Yuya heard his name being called and turns to Yasuko. "Yasuko," he said. "I'm going to show you what my new Entertainment Duel will do to make you smile."

Yasuko makes a twitch from her jaws and turns her head halfway. "Then don't hold back, no matter what happens, just give it all that you can," she replied.

"You bet!" And with that, Yuya starts walking over to the arena to begin his first match in the tournament.

* * *

 **Hey, readers, thank you all for taking the time to read this chapter through. As you can see, I've been busy, and with the stuff that's been going outside of the world, I just want to let you know that I am fine, and still working on some other stories that I want to know.**

 **Anyways, FYI, I do not tolerate any rudeness that comes from different readers, so please be courteous and mind your own business to yourself and other readers if you are going to be shouting at each other, please. Everyone wants to read something, and nobody doesn't want people to be so stubborn about what they want. So, as a reminder, just be respectful to the authors and other readers because they've been putting hard work in making these long-ass fanfic stories, and I hate stubborn dumbasses who want to make a fit, so I will not tolerate it.**

 **I hope you all are safe and having an awesome day despite some circumstances that is going on, but just stay calm and make your day as bright as you can. Stay tuned for the next chapter, and have an awesome day!**


	35. Chapter 35: The Neo New Entertainment

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship — Chapter 35: The Neo New Entertainment Duel; Yuya Sakaki vs. Sylvio Sawatari_

* * *

Declan Akaba is currently watching the main event from a large screen in front of him with his little sibling, Riley, and his company bodyguard enforcer, Claude, in a disclosed high-tech computer surveillance area of the Leo Corporation headquarters.

He was impressed by how Yasuko was able to achieve the Pendulum-Fusion Summon. The energy readings were nearly identical to the one that appeared over a month ago. By reviewing the energy readings from the day when he first dueled Yasuko and the match between her and Mikisugi, he confirms that Yasuko Yukihana is the perpetrator of the Pendulum Extra Deck Summons.

"It's exactly like the one we analyzed a month ago," Claude informed. "Pendulum-Fusion and Yasuko achieved it in a month? Does she know anything about Pendulum before then, or is she getting better? Just who is she?"

Declan's red-rimmed glasses shine from the computer screen. "I believe there's something more to it than that," he said. "Knowing that Pendulum cards would attract a lot of attention like us, my theory is she was playing under the radar until the time was right. Whichever the reason, I underestimated this newcomer."

Declan keeps his eyes on the big screen from his command chair, watching the Arc League from the shadows. "Yasuko is a duelist with an unknown history," he stated. "And yet, she's improving faster than I anticipated."

He is now by far curious to see more of Yasuko's Pendulum cards; however, he can wait as his next subject is coming on stage.

Yuya Sakaki.

"As for this one, in particular, it looks like this could be our biggest opportunity," Declan affirmed.

* * *

Yuya walks into the arena. People were talking all about him since his duel with Strong Ishijima. They thought that Pendulum Summon was a fake, but seeing Yasuko's duel with Mikisugi convinced them that if Yasuko can Pendulum Summon, then Yuya can also use Pendulum Summon. Everyone in the stadium is getting excited to see what Yuya will do in his duel now that Pendulum Summon is going to be mainstream.

Yuya is ready to take on the big leagues. He's been dreaming of this day ever since he did his first Pendulum Summon. The day when he can achieve his dream of becoming the pro duelist just like his father. If only Yusho could see him right now who is following his footsteps.

Yuya stops at the center and waits for his rematch with Sylvio Sawatari. Upon entering, Yuya finds it surprising that his opponent is entering the arena with a different outfit. Sylvio has a straw hat over his head and a blue garb that resembles an oversized samurai robe with black sandals. Sylvio was blowing a leaf that resonates to the sound of the soothing winds blowing his attire.

"What is he cosplaying as?" Tate asked, confused.

Shuzo seems to be familiar with it. "That's "Mother's Eye" by Shin Hasegawa," he said.

The straw hat covering Sylvio's eyes shuns the gaze of everyone at the stadium and Yuya's. "The cards are calling me," he said, giving a serious tone. "They're asking me to draw them." He gestures his hand out like he was holding something before pointing up in the air. "The lone star twinkling in the heavens! As I plan to duel as a warrior!" Sylvio exclaimed. "And because I saw this costume on sale earlier."

For some reason, Yuya has to be very befuddling in his mind. His eyes seem like they're in small circles with his mouth open. Even the audience was baffled at Sylvio's appearance.

Yasuko stops eating her sandwich as her eyebrows twitched in annoyance. "Oh great, another idiot like Yuya," she murmured.

Sawatari adjusts his straw hat. "Look, it's never too early to buy something for the upcoming Summer Festival," he claimed. "Now, do you know who I am?"

Yuya snaps himself out of his daze and makes a deadpan stare. "Sawatari," he answered blankly.

"Wrong," Sylvio objected. "I am…" In a flash, he throws his samurai cosplay costume in the air to every back to his usual red pants with brown shoes wearing a grey dressed shirt with his Maiami Prep jacket. "The _Neo_ New Sylvio Sawatari!"

The whole stadium was almost dead silent after his declaration.

Yasuko is sure that her right eye wasn't going to stop twitching with annoyance from Sylvio's ego. "Wow," she said sarcastically. "Seems like he's a bigger idiot than I thought. Does he know that 'neo' and 'new' are the same definitions?"

"Please don't encourage him," Zuzu protested flatly, also uncomfortable with the act.

"Can we duel now?" Yuya asked.

Sylvio adjusted himself and faced his opponent. "Yuya Sakaki," he called. "I have numerous grudges against you because you've wronged me three times."

Yuya blinks in confusion. "When was this?" he inquired.

Sylvio sticks out one finger. "First time! You and your partner, Yasuko Yukihana, disgraced me by stealing my Pendulum Cards and use them to beat me in a tag-team match. Remember?"

Yuya got insulted after his claim. "Hey, first of all, it was you who stole the Pendulum cards from me!" he protested.

Sylvio lost his composure for a brief moment as he continued while sticking it a second finger. "Second time! You wore a mask and injured me in our second duel! Admit it!" he hissed angrily.

Yuya forms a skeptical look. "That wasn't me, though, and I heard that you weren't injured."

"But his twin brother did," Yasuko called.

Yuya falls in shock with a comedian expression. He turns to her in annoyance. "I told you I don't have a twin brother!"

Sylvio's nerve was nearly broken because of the confusion that Yuya and Yasuko made. He dismisses whatever idea Yasuko told him about Yuya having a twin brother. He sticks out his third finger. "Third time! You dishonor my family by assaulting my dad! I know it was you!"

"Nope, that was on Yasuko," said Yuya. "I don't know what happened to her."

"You shut up, Yuya!" Yasuko shouted, having to hear him.

Much to Sylvio's embarrassing moment, he is hesitant before declaring his words. "Oh, you can deny all you want! The bottom line is, you and I have history, Yuya!" he exclaimed. "You disgraced me many times, but I'll now pay you back a hundred times over!"

Sylvio points at Yuya. "I'll make this declaration: Yuya Sakaki, you will suffer the greatest disgrace in this duel and lose for all my defeats…and disrespect, so now I will finally settle the score." His cool smirk forms at the corner of his mouth. "I'll admit it; I was shocked when your new classmate, Yasuko Yukihana, had Pendulum Cards of her own and guided her to victory today, but in this duel, _your_ Pendulum cards aren't going to save you," Sylvio smirked. "It will lead you to your downfall."

Yuya is surprised at first because Sylvio is making himself claim that his Pendulum Summon will defeat him in the duel. "I'll lose because of Pendulum cards?" he questioned.

The grin on Sylvio's face said otherwise.

Yuya suddenly recalls what Sylvio said about how the Leo Corporation is _independently_ making their Pendulum cards after his duel with Yasuko. " _Wait a minute…"_ he thought. " _Can it be? Sawatari has got Pendulum Cards now?"_ After thinking back to how Declan was able to use Pendulum Summon, it was per r to him that the Leo Corporation now has access to the secrets of Pendulum cards.

"Now, lets set the stage, shall we?" Nico announced through the loudspeakers. "Time to select the Action Field! C'mon!"

The Action Card spins fast in the bubble of cards before it pops to reveal the Action Field, **Sunset Stronghold**. "The Action Field is made! Now Sunset Stronghold activates!"

The arena transforms the plain glass into a new setting. Underneath the hologram is a fictional sunset with a barren wasteland type terrain that has a big fort in the middle surrounded by a trench.

Yuya and Sylvio activate their duel disk to get set in motion.

"Okay! Two duelists will turn this field into a battlefield!" Sylvio chanted.

"Bringing out with their monsters, they'll kick the earth and fly into the sky…" Yuya began.

"…To move around the field!" they chorused.

"Witness the greatest evolution of dueling!" Nico announced. "Action…"

 **DUEL:**

 **Yuya Sakaki (LP 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Sylvio Sawatari (LP 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!**_ _"_

Nico Smiley snaps his two fingers to make the Action Card bubble bursts open to disperse all the cards around the field to signify the start of the duel.

"Go ahead, Yuya!" Sylvio offered. "You first!"

 **Turn 1: Yuya (5x cards)**

"Fine then, I'll go first!" Yuya accepted. "When neither players have a monster on the field, I can summon this card from my hand by lowering its level by 1!" Thanks to its effect, Yuya Special Summons **Performapal Drummerilla (ATK 1600/DEF 900)** from his hand in Attack Position. "I Special Summon Performapal Drummerilla!" A black gorilla with a polka-dot bow tie who happens to have two big sets of drums as its chest appears on the field, making it pound its chest like a real gorilla. Due to its effect, the drummer gorilla loses one level.

 **(Performapal Drummerilla: Level 5** → **4)**

Yuya takes out another card and Normal Summons **Performapal Uni (ATK 800/DEF 1500)**. "And then, I summon Performapal Uni!" Yuya exclaimed. On the field next to the drumming gorilla, a female performer that has long blonde hair and pink highlight bangs on the front with a single horn hairpin on top of her head wearing a long tan jacket that had two long tails at the end appears on the field.

"Uni's special effect activates!" Yuya added. "When Uni is Normal or Special Summoned, I can Special Summon one Level 3 or lower Performapal monster from my hand." He takes out another card from his hand and Special Summons **Performapal Corn (ATK 600/DEF 1000)** in Attack Position. "I Special Summon Performapal Corn from my hand!"

Right next to the "uni" performer is a second female character who has sky blue hair tied in pigtails wearing a purple jacket that has two gold epaulets and laced white shoes that goes over her purple pants and white blouse.

Yuya wasn't done with his move just yet. "I activate Corn's special effect!" he declared. "If this card was Normal or Special Summoned this turn, I can target one Performapal monster with 1000 or less ATK points, and switch it and this monster to Defense Position, and then I can add one "Odd-Eyes" card from my deck to my hand." He throws his hand over to the Uni female performer. "I target Uni with my Corn's effect!"

Together, the uni performer claps her left hand with the corn coworker places her right while chorusing, "Uni-Corn," as if they are partners-in-crime.

The audience is loving the two female duos who have gotten their attention. Even the three little kids from the You-Show are all amazed by the new monsters that Yuya summoned.

"Aw, look at them!" Allie beamed. "They're so cute together! They're like besties!"

A single card pops out for Yuya to take after he has chosen **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon**. "I choose to add Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon from my deck to my hand!" After adding his card, Yuya takes out one more card and Sets it.

"Then, I Set a card face down and end my turn," he concluded.

 **Turn 2: Sylvio (5x cards)**

Sylvio gives Yuya a smirk of satisfaction as if he is ready to take on Yuya head-on. "Impressive start, Yuya," he commented, "but now, Sylvio Sawatari's legendary revenge duel begins your downfall," he claimed. "It's my turn!" Sylvio draws a card from his deck. "I draw!"

Sylvio gets right in to play the Continuous Spell Card he drew earlier; **Yosen Training Grounds**. "I activate the Continuous Spell, Yosen Training Grounds! Each time I Summon or Special Summon a Yosenju, one Yosen Counter light up on this card." As he activates the spell, a shinto shrine appears above Sylvio's head with unlit candles inside of the structure.

Yuya raised his eyebrows. "Yosen Counter?" he inquired. "You mean those candles?"

"Yep, and speaking of," Sylvio responded. "Let's light up one right now!"

Sylvio takes one more card from his hand to Normal Summon **Yosenju Kama 1 (ATK 1600/DEF 500)**. "I summon Yosenju Kama 1 from my hand!" he declared. The first monster is an anthropomorphic weasel humanoid with a white spiky, ponytail hair who is wearing a samurai garb holding a kusarigama weapon.

The kama 1 spins fast to create a whirlwind around its body. "When Kama 1 is successfully summoned, I can Summon a 'Yosenju' from my hand that isn't Kama 1," Sylvio explained.

Because it was Normal Summoned, Sylvio can Normal Summon **Yosenju Kama 2 (ATK 1800/DEF 200)**. "Come on out, Yosenju Kama 2!" A second anthropomorphic weasel appears, only this time, it has a katana sword and sky-blue white garb with black pants.

"But why stop at two when I can bring out a third one?" Sylvio suggested. "When Kama 2 is successfully summoned, I can summon a 'Yosenju' that isn't Kama 2." The Kama 2 spins fast like its twin brother as it creates another whirlwind. "Take to the field, Yosenju Kama 3!"

Like Kama 1's effect, Sylvio can Normal Summon **Yosenju Kama 3 (ATK 1500/DEF 800)**. A third whirlwind forms on Sylvio's field, and it was a third anthropomorphic weasel, only it has a green sash with a knife.

"And then, due to Kama 3's special effect, I can summon another Yosenju monster that isn't Kama 3," Sylvio added. He takes out another card and Normal Summons **Yosenju Izna (ATK 800/DEF 1200)**. "I summon Yosenju Izna!" A white whirlwind blows next to Kama 3 as a light brown weasel monster with brown hair tied in a ponytail and wearing a white garb over his black pants with his sandals appears on the field.

"What an insatiably start for Sylvio!" Nico announced, impressed. "He summoned three monsters in one move!"

Sylvio makes a chuckle. "Pendulum Summon doesn't have a monopoly of summoning many monsters quickly," he said. "Surely, you didn't think your Pendulum technique was the _only_ way one could make quick summons, did you Yuya? Since I have summoned four 'Yosenju' monsters, due to Yosenju Training Ground's effect, four Yosen Counters light up." The shrine's candles pop four flams after Sylvio summoned four monsters.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter: 0** → **4)**

While some people are impressed and surprised by Sylvio's move, Yasuko doesn't seem to be taken back. She appears to be slightly bored with the summon. "That all that he's got?" she murmured, eating her sandwich.

"I activate Izna's special effect!" Sylvio declared. "When I control a Yosenju monster, I can draw one card." Sylvio draws a card from his deck. "Next, Kama 1's effect activates," said Sylvio. "When there's another Yosenju on the field, I can return one card on your field to your hand once!"

Yuya is surprised. "What?" he gasped.

Kama 1 spins his chain before throwing it to wrap around the gorilla drummer. "So long, Drummerilla!" Sylvio exclaimed. After that, the gorilla drummer dispersed into dust until it was a card. Yuya takes his monster off his blade to leave him completely wide open.

"And now, let's battle!" Sylvio declared. "First, Kama 1 and 3, attack Uni and Corn!" The kama 1 and kama 3 weasels take out their weapons as kama 1 spins his kusarigama weapon while leaping forward to slash the Uni performer while kama 3 takes out his knife to cut down the Corn actress. Together, they slashed the two female performers and destroyed both of them.

"This isn't good!" Shuzo panicked. "Yuya's field is now completely empty!"

"Yuya!" Zuzu called.

The boy is forced to run away as he makes a counterattack. "I play the Trap Card! Performapal Pinch Helper!" Yuya activates his face-down Continuous Trap Card, **Performapal Pinch Helper**. "This card activates by negating your monster's direct attack!" Kama 1 halts after being stopped by the trap card, but Sylvio wasn't displeased; he was more relaxed.

"Then, I can Special Summon one Performapal monster from my deck by negating its effects!" By negating his opponent's attack, Yuya Special Summons **Performapal Kaleidoscorp (ATK 100/DEF 2300)** in Defense Position. "I summon Performapal Kaleidoscorp!" Yuya shouted. Once there, his red scorpion with two shields as pinchers and a blue starred laser stinger appears on the field.

"And it'll defend me, all right, because, with 2300 DEF points, your monsters can't get past it!" Yuya proclaimed.

"Ha! Sure, they can," said Sylvio. "I activate Kama 2's special effect. This card can attack you directly by halving it's ATK points."

 **(Yosenju Kama 2: ATK 1800** → **900)**

The effect shocks Yuya along with the other spectators.

"Sylvio found a way to get past through Kaleidoscop's defense," said Zuzu. "Yuya has to find an Action Card fast!"

Yuya hightailed and ran to the fort. Seeing how Yuya is getting desperate, Sylvio makes use of his fleeing. "Dashing off for an Action Card? I don't think so!" he exclaimed. "Let's battle! Kama 2 attacks you directly!"

As Kama 2 sends a whirlwind current over, Yuya sprints faster to get himself over a bridge that was closing. Before he can set foot; however, he was tackled by the air current and screams after falling into the ditch to receive the damage.

 **(Yuya: LP 4000** → **3100)**

"And I'm not done yet," Sylvio continued, from a standpoint where he can see Yuya at the ditch. "Now, Kama 3's special effect activates. When another Yosenju deals you battle damage, I can add a non-Yosenju Kama 3 in my deck to my hand." A monster card pops to let Sylvio take it to add **Yosenju Oyam**. "And the one that I choose is my Yosenju Oyam."

Yuya gets up on his legs as Sylvio's move wasn't made just yet. "Then, I activate Yosenju Training Ground's effect." Sylvio points up where the shrine is. "Once per turn, by using three Yosenju Counters, I can add one "Yosenju" from my deck to my hand." Three of the candles from the shrine blows out the fire like someone had blown them away.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter: 4** → **1)**

A second card pops out of his deck as Sylvio adds **Mayosenju Daibak** to his hand. "I add Mayosenju Daibak," he smiled. "It won't be fun if I defeat you too easily."

Sylvio takes one more card from his hand and Sets it. "I Set two cards face-down and end my turn."

"When my turn ends, the four Yosenju brothers that are summoned returned to my hand at the end of that turn." The four Yosenju brothers disappeared from the field as Sylvio recollects them back to his hand.

 **Turn 3: Yuya (3x cards)**

Yuya processes everything that he can think of Sylvio and his strategy when he made his field wide open to a direct attack. _"So Sylvio's field is empty? He's wide open for a direct attack,"_ he thought. " _Is this some kind of trap?"_

Yuya was pondering his head deeply that he was snapped back after Sylvio taunts him. "Hey!" Sylvio called. "We're all waiting on you to _do_ something, Yuya! Let's continue the show, you Entertainment Duelist!"

Despite Sylvio's goading, Yuya keeps his head calm and works on planning a counter-strategy to Sylvio's deck. He is trying to be smart about his gameplay. _"Trap or not, I can't afford to play it safe._ _I just have to do my own dueling,"_ he spoke in his head.

"My turn!" Yuya exclaimed. "I draw!" He draws a card that stars sparkle everywhere. He takes a peek at his card, satisfied with the card he draws. "Ah, yeah!" he beamed. "Here we go!"

Taking out two cards from his hand, Yuya makes his turn. "I'll set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 1 Stargazer Magician and Scale 5 Wisdom-Eye Magician!" Yuya announced. "I'm taking control of this duel starting now!" And so, Yuya sets his **Stargazer Magician (Scale 1)** and **Wisdom-Eye Magician (Scale 5)** at the edges of the blade, popping up the rainbow 'PENDULUM' word on it.

The stargazer wizard and his long white-blond hair donned in white garb with a purple cape, and the wisdom wizard with a dark green crown dressed in Arabian outfits with a dark lavender cloak behind him holding a staff that has a chained lamp appear on the field, floating upwards under the two bright pillars of light. They float in the air until they stop with their respective Pendulum Scale numbers underneath them and a large pendant appearing between the wizards.

The audience was getting excited to see Yuya's own Pendulum Summon. They were still reeling in from Yasuko's Pendulum Summon that they have forgotten that Yuya was the first duelist to discover Pendulum Summon.

"Look! Yuya's going to do a Pendulum Summon!"

"It's true!"

"It's like from the last duel!"

The spectators were thrilled that the Arc League has duelists who can Pendulum Summon. The air is filled with so much energy.

The three little kids are confused about what was Yuya doing when he sets a Pendulum Scale where he doesn't reach where he can Pendulum Summon his ace monster.

"Why'd he set Wisdom-Eye?" Tate questioned. "His Pendulum Scale is too small for Odd-Eyes."

"Maybe he's working on something," Allie assumed.

Allie was correct on what Yuya's next move might be. "Wisdom-Eyes' Pendulum effect activates!" Yuya declared. "If I control a Magician or Performapal monster in my other Pendulum Zone, I can destroy this card and then place one "Magician" monster in my Pendulum Zone that Wisdom-Eye was in!" At once, the wisdom-eye wizard bursts into dust as Yuya takes out one card to replace the wisdom-eye wizard with his signature card to complete the Pendulum Scale.

"I reset the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 8 Timegazer Magician!" said Yuya. He sets the **Timegazer Magician (Scale 8)** back in the Pendulum Zone that wisdom-eye wizard used to be. The monster that Yuya replaced with is a Timegazer wizard with spiky orange-red hair sticking out underneath his wizard hat with a mechanical time gauntlet attached to his right wrist, reconfiguring the Pendulum Scale number up to eight.

"With these two monsters, I can summon any monsters between levels 2 and 7 simultaneously!" Yuya exclaimed.

"He did it!" Tate and Allie chorused.

"A Pendulum Summon!" Frederick cheered.

Yuya is determined to get to the top and to improve his dueling based on Yasuko's teachings. After watching all of Yasuko's duels, he's going to keep on improving himself to become just as strong as Yasuko. _"Swing! Pendulum of the Soul! Carve the arc of the ether! I_ _ **Pendulum Summon!**_ _Come on out, monster servants!"_ As Yuya chanted, two monsters above him fall from the portal like shooting stars.

"From my hand, Performapal Drummerilla! And the dragon with dichromatic shining eyes, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya Pendulum Summons **Performapal Drummerilla** and **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 2500/DEF 2000)**. The gorilla drummer is back, and the red-scaled spiky dragon with glowing red and green eyes appears on the field, giving a very animalistic roar like Odd-Eyes Phantom.

The whole crowd is getting hyped up to see that everything about Yuya since his duel with Strong Ishijima. To see another duelist like Yuya doing a Pendulum Summon is spectacularly fun to watch for the audience.

"And now, it's showtime!" Yuya announced.

"And it'll be a short show in that!" Tate pointed out. "When Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Drummerilla attacks directly, Yuya wins!"

"That's true, Tate," said Yasuko, eating a bag of nuts after she ate her sandwich. "But that's a big _if_ …"

"Obviously, it looks like a trap," Sora added, agreeing with Yasuko.

"Here I go!" Yuya declared. "Let's battle! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon attacks you directly!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum makes a fast charge before leaping out of the ditch and into the air for a full attack.

Sylvio isn't worried as he prepares to counter Yuya's attack. "I activate Yosenju Oyam's special effect from my hand!" he announced. "When I take a direct attack, I can send one Yosenju in my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon it in Attack Position!" Be discarding his **Yosenju Izna** , Sylvio Special Summons **Yosenju Oyam (ATK ?/DEF ?)**. Sylvio's field pops out a monster that is a ground blob ghost that is twenty feet taller than Odd-Eyes Pendulum.

Yuya is confused with the monster because it has unknown points. "What are its ATK points?" he asked.

"That depends," Sylvio answered. "Oyam's ATK points becomes the same as the original ATK points of the monster that it's battling!"

Since the ground ghost doesn't have known points, the attack and defense are now equal to the Odd-Eyes Pendulum.

 **(Yosenju Oyam: ATK ?/DEF ?** → **ATK 2500/DEF 2500)**

Sylvio makes another move. "Since I Special Summon a Yosenju, one Yosenju Counter light up."

 **(Yosenju Training Grounds: Yosenju Counter 1** → **2)**

The first candle in the shrine flares up. "The point is, my Oyam and your Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon are history," Sylvio proclaimed. "Will you attack knowing that they'll both be destroyed?"

"You wished!" Yuya rebuked. "I activate Drummerilla's special effect!" The gorilla drummer starts pounding its chest like a real ape. "Once per turn, this card increases my monster's ATK points by 600!" The beat of the drums sends sound waves to boost up Odd-Eyes Pendulum's power.

 **(Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 2500** → **3100)**

Sylvio's eyes frown as the boy growls in frustration, foiled by Yuya's counterattack.

Yuya points at his opponent's mud ghost. "Now, Go! Odd-Eyes!" Odd-Eyes Pendulum fires a crimson red spiraling laser over to blast a hole right through the mud ghost's body. "Spiral Burst Strike!" The red laser vaporizes the ground ghost. "Odd-Eyes, special effect activates! When Odd-Eyes destroys a monster is a level 5 or above, the battle damage is doubled!" he exclaimed.

Oyam explodes, which sends Sylvio flying away, screaming in the air over to the ground until he lands on his knees after taking the double damage effect.

 **(Sylvio: LP 4000** → **2800)**

"Oyam's special effect activates!" Sylvio yelled. "When this card is destroyed in battle, I can add one Oyam to my hand!" Since his first copy was destroyed, a card pops out so that Sylvio can now add a second copy of his **Yosenju Oyam** from his Deck to his hand.

Yuya is being cautious with the next move. He has the drumming gorilla on his side, but he had second thoughts regarding Sylvio's plan.

" _If I attack again, he'll just summon another Oyam to block my way,"_ Yuya thought. " _I'll have to be patient for now and see what I can do."_ Yuya thinks of the best strategy for his next move.

"I end my turn," Yuya concluded. "But, my cardio is just getting started!" Yuya breaks off for a run in the ditch to find himself an Action Card.

 **Turn 4: Sylvio (5x cards)**

Sylvio makes a smirk, watching Yuya run like a rat. "Run all you want; you're not going to find any Action Cards that can save you," he said. "You may have Pendulum Summon, but as I said before, you're gonna find out the true horrors of Pendulum summoning soon enough—" he points at Yuya, "—because this is the start of Sylvio Sawatari's revenge duel."

Yasuko narrows her eyes at the boy, theorizing the possibility of him having Pendulum Cards owned by the Leo Corporation. " _I don't like this,"_ she thought. " _It's like Sylvio's trying to toy with Yuya and his Pendulum Summon."_

"Watch and learn, Yuya Sakaki!" Sylvio announced. "It's my turn!" He draws a card from his deck.

"I summon Yosenju Kama 1!" Like before, Sylvio Normal Summons **Yosenju Kama 1** , the first anthropomorphic weasel. "By summoning Kama 1, I can summon Kama 2 and Kama 3!" Once he had the first warrior monster, Sylvio can Normal Summon **Yosenju Kama 2** and **Yosenju Kama 3** back on the field. "Plus, I still have Yosen Training Ground's effect in play," Sylvio added. "Since I summoned a Yosenju, three more Yosenju Counters light up."

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 2** → **5** **)**

Three more candles from the shrine light up. "Sawatari has one again instantly summoned three monsters on his field!" Nico shouted through the microphone.

"No!" Allie cried in shock. "Yuya's now in the same position as his last turn!"

"This is terrible!" Frederick panicked. "If nothing changes, then Kama 1's effect will send Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back to his hand!"

Sylvio throws his hand at the front to Yuya. "Let's battle!" he declared. "Due to Kama 2's effect, I can halve its ATK points to attack you directly!" Kama 2 slashes his katana to create a powerful air current to Yuya.

"I need to get an Action Card," said Yuya, running faster before the winds could catch up to him.

While running, Yuya narrows her eyes back to Sylvio. _"He's not going to use Kama 1's effect?"_ he thought. " _What's he going to do after that?"_ Yuya was grabbing onto the wooden pole and trying to swing himself to an Action Card that is spotted at the hole; unfortunately, he was blown away by the winds and was sent falling to the ground.

 **(Yuya: LP 3100** → **2200)**

"Yuya!" Zuzu cried out for him.

"Kama 3's special effect activates," said Sylvio. "When another Yosenju deals you damage, I can add one Yosenju monster from my deck to my hand." A card pops out, and Sylvio takes to reveal something shocking to Yuya. "And the one I'm adding may surprise you…" he rotates his card to show Yuya his Pendulum monster; **Yosenju Shinchu L**. "It's a Pendulum Monster! Yosenju Shinchu L!"

"Wait a minute, did I hear it right?!" Nico gasped. "Sylvio Sawatari has his own Pendulum cards!?" The whole audience is stunned that someone like Sylvio could have Pendulum Cards like Yasuko and Yuya.

Yuya gets up on his feet, looking up at Sylvio. Initially, he would've been shocked, but for some reason, Yuya was able to anticipate that his opponent has Pendulum Cards in the deck. "So, he really does have Pendulum cards," he confirmed.

"A Pendulum Monster?" Zuzu gasped.

"No way!" Gongenzaka exclaimed. "But how?!"

"By Declan and the Leo Corporation," Yasuko revealed. "That's how."

"I activate Yosen Training Ground's special effect! By using three Yosen Counter, I can add one Yosenju monster from my deck to my hand!" The three candles that light up earlier extinguish their fire to let Sylvio add a card to his hand. "And I know just the one that I want! I add the Pendulum Monster, Yosenju Shinchu R!"

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 5** → **2)**

With three more of the candles extinguished, Sylvio can add his second Pendulum monster, **Yosenju Shinchu R**.

Yuya focuses his eyes on the card that Sylvio added to his hand. "Another Pendulum monster, that's two!" he exclaimed.

"Yuya Sakaki," Sylvio called. "Now that Yasuko Yukihana has made her own Pendulum Summon, it's high time where Pendulum will lead you to your downfall!"

Sylvio takes out the two cards that he added to demonstrate his next move. "I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 3 Yosenju Shinchu L and Scale 5 Yosenju Shinchu R!" Like Yuya and Yasuko, Sylvio places his **Yosenju Shinchu L (Scale 3)** and **Yosenju Shinchu R** **(Scale 5)** to the edge of his green blade, creating the rainbow "PENDULUM" word.

The two of Sylvio's monsters, a left side of the torii with a scary blue mask and the right side of the torii with a red goblin mask, floats up in the air with their respective scale numbers beneath them.

Yuya wasn't worried because he can see how Sylvio's Pendulum monsters have a lower Pendulum Scale than his own. "We'll see about that," said Yuya. "Because since it's a 3 and 5 Pendulum scale, you can only Pendulum Summon level 4, and I can handle that."

Sylvio let out a smile. "Level 4? Ha! In your dreams, Yuya," he taunted. "Yosenju Shinchu R's Pendulum effect activates! When there's another Yosenju monster in my other Pendulum Scale, the Pendulum Scale number rises to 11!" Because there was the shinchu L, the shinchu R's Pendulum Scale number magically increases to a more significant number where Sylvio can summon monsters that are higher than Yuya's.

 **(Yosenju Shinchu R: Pendulum Scale 5** → **11)**

Everyone, except for Yasuko, is shocked that the Pendulum Scale number has increased by six, giving Sylvio the edge over the duel against Yuya.

"Now, I can Pendulum Summon any monsters that are between levels 4 and 10 simultaneously!" Sylvio called. As he points up, a portal from the air opens, and what comes down is a massive storm that tornadoes down. Sylvio Pendulum Summons **Mayosenju Daibak (ATK 3000/DEF 300)**. "The elderly ghost clads of the strong wind, remove your garments to create a large river that hollows out the land! I give you! Mayosenju Daibak!" The monster that Sylvio summoned is a giant wind wolf-like kamaitachi beast with a horn on its head made up of turquoise winds

The kamaitachi wolf beast lets out a loud howling echo that reverberates across the stadium to froze everyone in their seats. "What a surprising turn of events for the second day of the Arc League Championship!" Nico announced. "First, there was Yuya Sakaki, who is the first duelist to start his Pendulum Summon; then, Yasuko Yukihana, who just made her own Pendulum Summon; and now, Sylvio Sawatari is the third to be able to Pendulum Summon!"

Yuya can feel the energy of the crowd roaring like fire. He comes to understand that Pendulum is now getting everyone's attention. The whole stadium is now awake.

"One Yosenju Counter lights up on Yosen Training Ground." A second candle flares up after that.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 2** → **3)**

The audiences are turning in the favor for Sylvio now that he can do a Pendulum Summon.

"I knew that this day would come," Shuzo cautioned. "After Yuya and Yasuko did their first Pendulum Summon, I thought that someone other than them would be able to do it, but I had no idea that it would be this very soon."

Even the three other kids are getting worried about Yuya. They wonder if Yuya will be alright since Sylvio made his own Pendulum Summon.

"And the monster he summoned is a level 10," said Tate. "I know Yuya can still come back for this…I think…"

The whole stadium was cheering on to Sylvio Sawatari. He was also enjoying the position of being in the spotlight and gaining the most attention than Yuya. "That's right!" Sylvio announced. "Get excited! Get more excited! Get _really_ excited!" The more that the crowd is encouraging him, the more hyped Sylvio gets to cheer only for him. "The fun is just getting started!" he boosted with glee.

"Hey! That's Yuya's catchphrase!" Allie yelled.

Yasuko is sure that Sylvio is making a fool out of himself now because she can spot the drunken smug on Sylvio's face. "He's way over his head," she muttered with one raised eyebrow.

The smug look on Sylvio's face is never going away anytime soon. "That's right," Sylvio whispered. "I am the chosen one, not Yuya. He's a hasbeen. I am the Neo New Sawatari." He turns back to Yuya. "And do you know why? Because I'm taking Yuya's Pendulum Summon method to a whole new level! I activate Daibak's special effect!" Sylvio declared.

"What?" Yuya inquired.

"When this card is successfully summoned, I can select two cards on your field and return them to your hand!" The horn on the kamaitachi wolf blows a powerful tornado that transforms the stargazer wizard and the Timegazer wizard into their card forms. "I return Stargazer and Timegazer Magician back to your hand!" he said. "But wait! There's more! Since Daibak's out on the field, I can activate the Continuous Trap Card, Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village!" From the moment the Continuous Trap Card: **Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village** , flips up, it creates a powerful storm to blow around Yuya and the stadium.

"When non-Yosenju cards return from your field to your hand, they return to the deck instead!" Sylvio explained.

Yuya is surprised how Sylvio was able to counteract his Pendulum abilities. It felt like the time when he first dueled Yasuko, and how she was able to find a loophole behind his Pendulum Summon. Sylvio is different. If he was dueling against Yasuko, she would've found a way to stop his pendulum cards without destroying it, preventing him from Pendulum Summon. Sylvio, on the other hand, is a different story. Yuya has no choice but to put shuffle his two magicians into his deck.

"I pay 800 of my life points to activate the Continuous Spell Card, Yosenju Whirlwind from my hand!" Sylvio plays his Continuous Spell Card, **Yosenju Whirlwind** , though at the cost of his life points.

 **(Sylvio: LP 2800** → **2000)**

"I end my turn," Sylvio concluded. "But don't think it's the end of your suffering! Because I'm going to show you Sawatari's legendary combo, Yosen Lost Tornado!"

"I don't like where you're going with this!" Yuya protested.

"No, should you, Yuya," Sylvio replied. "When a Yosenju returns from my field to my hand, Yosen Whirlwind's effect returns one card from your field to your hand! And when a non-Yosenju monster returns to the hand, Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village returns it to the deck instead of the hand!"

Yuya suddenly realized what Sylvio is doing to him and his cards. "I return the three Kama brothers from the field to my hand during the End Phase; therefore, three cards on your field return to your hand, but Dizzying Winds returns them to the deck instead!" Together, the three kama brothers turn into whirlwinds and disappear from the scene to let Sylvio choose which ones should he return. "Begone, Pinch Helper, Drummerilla, and Kaleidoscorp." The two face-up Spell and Trap cards blow a hurricane to transform the gorilla drummer, the kaleidoscope scorpion, and the trap card back to Yuya's deck.

"Sylvio's nearly got rid of all of Yuya's monsters," said Zuzu, worried.

"Only Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon is left," Gongenzaka added.

Sylvio points at Yuya's Odd-Eyes Pendulum. "Seems like that is your only monster left," he informed. "Daibak's special effect activates! When it is special summoned, at the end of the turn, it returns back to my hand, triggering my card combo, so your Odd-Eyes is out of here too!" The kamaitachi wolf beast disappears under the tornado wind.

The spell and trap card blow two tornadoes that turn into a bigger one to hit Odd-Eyes Pendulum, turning it into a card. "Bye-bye, Odd-Eyes, won't miss you," he said.

Yuya finally realized why Sylvio didn't use his first kama's effect. "I see! Now I know why didn't use his Kama 1's effect at the start of the turn!" He takes his Odd-Eyes Pendulum monster card. "His goal was to return Odd-Eyes to my deck instead of my hand."

Yuya discovered Sylvio's strategy and thought of his first duel with Yasuko. Yasuko was able to see through the weakness behind the Pendulum cards and somehow managed to found a way to get rid of them without destroying them. After discovering the flaws behind the Pendulum cards, he comes to suspect that something like this was about to happen. " _So that's his game,"_ he thought. " _Because Pendulum cards don't go to the graveyard if they are destroyed, they go to the Extra Deck,"_ he thought. " _The only thing I was worried about the most is if my Pendulum cards get banished, but I had no idea I was expecting my cards to get shuffled back into my deck._ " Yuya looked back up to Sylvio and his greasy smirk. _"Sylvio found a way to counter my Pendulum cards."_ Yuya shuffles his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon back into his deck.

"Face it," Sylvio taunted. "You have been outmatched. And now that I end my turn, Shinchu R's Pendulum Scale returns to normal." Like before, the number underneath the right torii goblin downgrades to a five.

 **(Yosenju Shinchu R: Pendulum Scale 11** → **5)**

Sylvio approaches the edge of the ditch to look down at Yuya. "Remember when I told you we have a score to settle, Yuya?" Sylvio asked. "Well, guess what? It's just about settled."

Yuya's expression seems down and depressed after Sylvio had found a way to seal his pendulum ability. Even the taunts from Sylvio is continuing to mock him. "Because after you take this next turn, I'm afraid you are so going down."

The You-Show is worried about Yuya because he looks defeated.

"Oh, just look at Yuya's face," said Frederick. "If he can't Pendulum Summon…"

"He looks beaten," said Allie. "What's going to happen to Yuya?"

 **Turn 5: Yuya (0x card)**

"My turn," said Yuya.

"Yuya, don't give up!" Shuzo shouted. "Get fired up!"

"Show that you're a man!" Gongenzaka called.

"We believe in you!" The three little kids chorused.

Unlike the rest of the You-Show and Gongenzaka, Yasuko isn't worried. She is practically the only one in her group who is more relaxed about Yuya's current state. "Oh, hold your tongues, people," Yasuko called. "Can't you see Yuya's enjoying this?"

Zuzu pops her head over by Gongenzaka to Yasuko. "Enjoying this?" she reacted inquisitively.

Yasuko points at Yuya. "Take a closer look," she said.

Zuzu focuses her gaze and concentrates hard on Yuya's expression. Her eyes narrow further and further down to his face. And that's when it dawns on her. "Yuya's…smiling?" she inquired.

"Yep," Yasuko replied. "It's been on his face since Sylvio ended his turn."

"What? He's what?" Gongenzaka stuttered, looking confused.

In Yuya's head, it was fawning to him that seeing how Sylvio has him cornered is similar to how Yasuko is trying to pin him on the day they dueled each other. _"It's amazing,"_ he thought. " _I am completely cornered, but after experiencing my duel with Yasuko…it feels so different."_ The burst of energy explodeslike fireworks inside of him. " _It's making me so—"_ he turns up with the biggest smile, "— _excited! It's time for me to shine!"_ Yuya grins up to Sylvio as he seems baffled with his expression.

"What are you smiling for?" Sylvio questioned. "You're about to lose this fight!"

"Maybe," Yuya assumed. "Or maybe not! The duel is only just begun!"

Sylvio scrutinizes his eyebrows. "What?" he asked.

"I draw!" Yuya draws a card. After looking over to the card, he knew right then that it's the perfect moment to get back into the game. "I activate the Spell, Magical Spring!" Yuya activates the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Magical Spring**. "This card lets me draw a card equal to the number of face-up Spell and Trap cards that you have, and then I have to discard the cards the I've drawn equal to the number of cards that I control."

Yuya then points at Sylvio's field. "And as I recall, there are a total of _five_ Spell and Trap cards that you have, so that means I get to draw five cards!"

Yuya manages to catch Sylvio off guard when he can draw a card for every face-up Spell and Trap Cards that are on the field. After looking at the two cards that are in his hand, he comes down to taking out two cards and Set it.

"I Set two cards face-down and end my turn!" Yuya concluded.

 **Turn 6: Sylvio (4x cards)**

The You-Show are surprised that Yuya only sets two cards on the field and no summon despite drawing five cards in his turn.

"Huh?!" Zuzu gasped. "That's it?"

"Of course, that's it," said Yasuko. "If there is something that I know about Yuya is that he's working on a plan to take down Sylvio's hand combo."

Yuya starts to do a tic-tac maneuver on the wooden poles attached to the wall to get himself out of the ditch and onto higher ground.

"Well, I guess you wasted another chance to save yourself since you had three cards in your hand," Sylvio sneered.

After climbing his way up, Yuya finally faces the foothills of the stronghold. "That may be true, but if I don't have to just rely on any Pendulum cards because I just have to search for one of the Action Cards!"

Yuya starts running uphill to the stronghold that is still standing. With the chase going on, Sylvio finds his efforts to be pointless. "Oh, Yuya, I know why you're running," he said. "You're looking for an Action Card. I applaud you for still having hope, but all you have is despair."

Sylvio places two fingers in his deck before drawing a card. "My turn!"

Yuya continues to run, making a vault over a bar before he strides on the wooden board to hop over one after another.

"I summon Yosenju Kama 1!" Like before, Sylvio Normal Summons **Yosenju Kama 1**. "Since I successfully summoned Kama 1, I can summon Yosenju Kama 2!" Sylvio Normal Summons **Yosenju Kama 2** due to its effect. "Then, due to my Kama 2's special effect, I summon Yosenju Kama 3!" As an added bonus, because of Kama 2, Sylvio Normal Summons **Yosenju Kama 3**.

"Yosen Training Ground's effect also activates!" Sylvio added. "For every Yosenju that is summoned, one Yosenju Counter lights up." Three more candles in the shrine flare up.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counters: 3** → **6)**

"And it means that while you've been running around, I've set myself up to win this," he hissed, looking up at the stronghold. "There's no running from that, Yuya."

Yuya keeps running up on the hill to follow the road until he comes across the broken castle that is in front of him. He enters only to find himself facing a large hole. He spots a set of staircases and starts running up.

"I activate Yosenju Shichu R's pendulum effect!" Sylvio declared. "When there is the other Yosenju pendulum monster on the other Pendulum Zone, the pendulum scale of my Shinchu R increases from 5 to 11 until the end of the turn!" Like before, the Pendulum Scale number for the right-side goblin torii increases by six.

 **(Yosenju Shinchu R: Pendulum Scale 5** → **11)**

"Now I can summon monsters between levels 4 and 10 simultaneously! I _**Pendulum Summon**_!" he shouted. "Monsters emerge!" From the portal above Sylvio, the whirlwind tornadoes down as Sylvio Pendulum Summons **Mayosenju Daibak**. "Rise once back again, Maysenju Daibak!" The kamaitachi wolf beast appears on the field again.

"Once again, my Yosen Counter lights up!" The sixth candle on the shrine lights a fire.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 5** → **6)**

Yasuko watches Yuya running up on the castle, passing floor after floor to make sure that he gets an Action Card. "What are you going to do now, Yuya?" she wondered.

Zuzu has a more worried expression over her childhood friend. "Yuya, you've got to do something," she said.

"Daibak's effect also works on Set cards," Sylvio informed.

"He's trying to get rid of Yuya's cards again!" Shuzo shouted.

"Daibak's effect activates! Two cards on your field return to the hand!" The kamaitachi wolf beast unleashes a hurricane of whirlwinds to send the two Set cards that Yuya had to his hand. "And I also activate Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village's effect to return those cards back to your deck!" Sylvio added. "This is the end! You've got no cards on your field, no cards in your hand, and no chance of winning this duel!"

Sylvio points up to the castle where Yuya is at. "You might as well keep on running all the way home! Too bad! You went all that trouble to Set those cards, but it was a waste!" he mocked.

"Actually, it's fine," Yuya called, surprising Sylvio.

Out of the hole from the rooftop of the castle, Yuya front flips over before landing perfectly on the roof to stare down at Sylvio. He takes out his Trap Card, **Amnesia,** and shows it to Sylvio. "When this Set card, Amnesia, leaves the field, all your face-up monsters become "nameless" until the end of the turn." From the trap card, four yellow lights shoot out. From the rooftop to Sylvio on the ground, the lights strike at all four of Sylvio's monsters, changing them to be treated as 'Amnesia.'

Sylvio's face appears through a video recording on Yuya's duel disk. "Oh, no!" he gasped. "You were planning on this from the start?"

"Yep," Yuya confirmed. "Dizzying Wind's effect won't work on Yosenjus…"

"And because all four of his Yosenju's are now 'Amnesia,' they'll go straight to Sylvio's deck at the end of the turn," Yasuko explained a little in detail for the rest of the You-Show and Gongenzaka to follow in.

"So then…" Zuzu began.

"That's what Yuya is planning on, wasn't he?" Sora inquired.

"Yep," Yasuko complied. "Simply put, Yuya just used Sylvio's effect against him."

Sylvio was ticked off after Yuya uses a card effect to reverse his own against him. He let a low, angry growl but remains composure and his smirk returns. "Clever move," he commented.

"Thanks, guess this means that this duel's going to last a little bit longer," said Yuya.

"That is… _if_ you can survive this until the end of the turn," Sylvio confided. "So, all I have to do is beat you until then!"

The boy makes a jump over as the kamaitachi wolf beast blasts a brief tornado to let Sylvio land on it with such acrobatic agility. "Let's battle!" Sylvio declared. "Daibak attack Yuya directly!" As soon as the kamaitachi wolf beast jumps up in the air, the three kama brothers leap like ninjas. "Everyone else follow its lead!" The kamaitachi wolf beast creates an intense windy hurricane after it makes its jump. The winds are so strong that it's making the spectators cover their heads from the current.

"Sawatari launches an all-out attack!" Nico pronounced. "He is like a whirlwind raging warrior going to take down the castle!" The kamaitachi wolf beast hops over a gate before the three kama brothers destroyed the bridge.

Using the chance, Yuya puts on his orange goggles with an aqua blue star on the right side. "Perfect!" he exclaimed. "but I won't let it end just yet!" Taking a deep breath, Yuya embraces the adrenaline rushing through his veins, and with one big jump, he performs a high backflip to dive into the hole on the rooftop.

"This is the end!" Sylvio rebuked. With one big whip of the tail, the kamaitachi wolf beast creates a powerful tornado to send it swirling around the castle. The force of the winds is causing the building to go unstable and starts to collapse from the pressure. Even though the winds have stopped, it was too much for the building to handle.

"Yuya, no!" Gongenzaka and Zuzu gasped.

The rooftop breaks, and the entire castle starts to breakdown. The rooftop breaks and falls on the third floor before each floor of the building crumbles down, causing debris and winds to pick up.

"NO!" Zuzu shrieked, giving a heart-wrenching wail after seeing her childhood friend crushed under the building.

The audience in the stands remained quiet, watching if the boy had ever managed to survive the building. Nobody can tell. The smoke and the dust was covering the area where the building used to be.

"Showtime is over," Sylvio called. "You lost, Yuya Sakaki."

Yasuko thinks that Sylvio may have gone too far in his quest to give Yuya a dose of payback. Seeing how he might have been seriously injured makes her clench her fists together, feeing the fire inside of her heart.

Zuzu started to cry, covering her face after seeing the devastation of the castle toppled on top of Yuya. She can't begin to imagine if Yuya made it out of there.

 _SNAP!_

Yasuko and Zuzu turn up to the sound of a loud snap. The girls turn to the source, and to their surprise, they spotted Yuya standing on top of the watchtower unscathed. "Whoa, look over there!" Nico called to everyone as the spotlight turns over to the watchtower where Yuya is standing on. Everyone let out a breath of relief after a daring stunt.

"Look, its Yuya!" Shuzo praised.

"Sure is," Gongenzaka agreed. "He's okay!"

"He's back," Zuzu cried with joy.

"He did it!" The three kids chorused.

Sylvio is shocked to see that Yuya still manages to get past through his attack and the castle unscathed. "No way! I know my direct attack succeeded!" he shouted. "How'd you survive that onslaught!"

And that's when Yasuko realized what happened to Yuya during Sylvio's attack. " _Of course!"_ she thought. " _That idiot must've found an Action Card in that building and didn't say squat! He was waiting for the moment Daibak attacked so that he can get the card at the split second!"_ Her eyes narrowed, wondering something else. " _But how the hell did he get out of that castle?"_ She scans the area of the castle. It didn't take long for her to see the pipe in the hills that shoot upwards. " _So that's how he did it,"_ Yasuko pondered. " _Yuya knew what the layout of the castle is and dived right into the pipe that shoots him out through the castle from underneath before it collapsed on him."_ For such a risky move in the castle, Yasuko can't help but find how impressed she is when Yuya is making a bold and dangerous, but calculated move. " _You son of a bitch…"_

The Action Spell Card, **Big Escape** , appears beside Yuya. "The Action Spell, Big Escape," said Yuya. "It forces you to end your Battle Phase."

Sylvio is getting pissed with by the very second. Despite that, the crowd seems to love how Yuya was able to make an impossible move to bring himself out of harm's way. They cheer on for him as Yuya bows in front of the crowd.

"Cut that out!" Sylvio yelled to him, getting Yuya's attention. "I'm the star duelist around here, not you! I'm the one who's supposed to be getting the crowd excited!"

"If you're the star, then you're the falling kind!" Yuya protested. "And this is my Entertainment Duel!"

"We'll just about that, Yuya," Sylvio proclaimed, throwing his arm out. "In the end, the crowd will cheer for me! Yosen Training Ground's effect activates!" The three candles on the shrine flap out their fire.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 6** → **3)**

"By using three Yosen Counters I can add a Yosenju from my deck to my hand!" A card pops out for Sylvio to take it. "And I'll add Yosenju Tsujik and end my turn." He adds **Yosenju Tsujik** from his deck to the hand.

"And how your monsters leave," Yuya pointed out.

Sylvio growled lowly as his kamaitachi wolf beast and his anthropomorphic weasels disappear in the whirlwind. "If a Yosenju doesn't return to my hand at the end of my turn, Yosen Whirlwind is destroyed." The spell card on Sylvio's field is instantly destroyed. "And my Yosenju Shinschu R's pendulum scale returns to normal." The number below the pendulum monster on Sylvio's field magically decreases by six back to its original scale.

 **(Yosenju Shinchu R: Pendulum Scale 11** → **5)**

"And due to Dizzying Winds of Yosen Village, Sawatari's monsters returns to the deck instead of the hand," Yasuko mentioned as she watches Sylvio shuffle all four of his monsters into his deck.

 **Turn 7: Yuya (3x cards)**

"Both our fields are lonely," said Yuya. "Time for you to get a taste of your own medicine."

Sylvio smirks with anticipation. "Oh Yuya, in the end, it's going to be bittersweet," he said. "I'll make it lively on my next turn when your defeat will be the main event."

Yuya smiles as he removes the goggles from his eyes. "Sorry, But I don't intend to lose either!" he rejoiced. "My turn! I draw!" Yuya draws a card from his deck.

"First off, I'm going to set the Scale 1 Performapal Monkeyboard into my Pendulum Zone!" Yuya sets **Performapal Monkeyboard (Scale 1)** at the left side of his yellow duel disk blade. From the left side of the pillar, a monkey wearing a purple suit with a magician hat in a unicycle that has teeth shaped into a set of piano keys with its Pendulum Scale number representing underneath it.

"Now, Monkeyboard's Pendulum effect activates!" Yuya exclaimed. "When I have no other Performapal monster in my Pendulum Zone, this card's Pendulum Scale becomes a four!" Yuya does not control another Performapal monster in his Pendulum Zone, the monkeyboard's Pendulum Scale increased by three.

 **(Performapal Monkeyboard: Pendulum Scale 1** → **4)**

"What's the point of activating that effect when you don't have another card in your Pendulum Zone?" Sylvio questioned. "It's useless without having another Pendulum card in it."

Yuya held a finger. "True, but now Monkeyboard's Pendulum effect can begin," he responded. "You see, during the Main Phase, if this card was activated, I can add one Level 4 or below Performapal monster from my deck to my hand!"

Sylvio's eyes widened upon Yuya's declaration. A single card pops out from Yuya's deck after he has chosen the monster that he wants to add: **Performapal Skullcrobat Joker**. "And the card that I choose to add is my Performapal Skullcrabat Joker!" Yuya declared. "But I'm not just gonna be adding it, I'm summoning it!" Yuya Normal Summon **Performapal Skullcrobat Joker** **(ATK 1800/DEF 100)**. "I summon Skullcrobat Joker!"

A giant magician hat appears in front of Yuya before it shoots out the monster like a cannon. The purple skull jester with a purple skeleton head hat appears on the field, giving a peal of comical laughter to entertain the audience.

"Now, Skullcrabat Joker's effect activates!" Yuya declared. "When this card is Normal Summoned, I can add one Performapal, Magician monster, or Odd-Eyes pendulum monster from my deck to my hand!" He chooses one and takes out **Performapal Lizardraw** from his deck to his hand. "And now, I'm gonna complete the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 6 Performapal Lizardraw!" Yuya completes the Pendulum Scale with his **Performapal Lizardraw (Scale 6)** , reforming the rainbow "Pendulum" word on his yellow disk blade.

From the right side of the Pendulum Scale, a lizard with four cards as its cowl wearing a performer dress with a red suit jacket and yellow pants holding a walking stick and a magician hat floats up with the Pendulum Scale number underneath it.

The audience was expecting Yuya to do the same thing as Sylvio had done: a Pendulum Summon. They were getting very excited for the Entertainment duelist to do his signature summon.

"Alright, there it is!" Tate beamed. "Yuya's gonna Pendulum Summon!"

"Come on, Yuya!" Allie cheered.

What the audience wasn't expecting is for Yuya to make a twist in his move. "Now, I activate my Lizardraw's Pendulum effect!" Yuya declared, much to everyone's shock. "When I control a Performapal monster in my Pendulum Zone, I can destroy this monster and then draw one card!" He raises his hand over to his lizardraw. "I destroy my lizardraw to draw a card!" The lizardraw monster in Yuya's Pendulum zone disappears as he draws a card. He looks at it and smiles with delight.

Sylvio seizes the opportunity to take the initiative to stop Yuya from using Pendulum Summon. "That's a mistake you've ever done!" he exclaimed. "Because I activate the Trap! Yosenju Sword Sting!" Sylvio activates his Trap Card: **Yosenju Sword Sting**. "It lets me reveal up to two Yosenju monsters in my hand, and then tar face-up cards on your side of the field and return them to the hand!" He rotates two cards to reveal **Yosenju Kama 3** and **Yosenju Oyam**. points at the two monsters that are in Yuya's field and Pendulum Zone. "I reveal my Kama 3 and Oyam to target your Skullcrobat Joker and your Monkeyboard to return to the hand, and Dizzying Wind's effect activates!"

Nico gets in close, booming his voice with excitement from his throat. "And Sylvio has done it! He's, once again, sealed Yuya's attempt to Pendulum Summon due to Dizzying Wind's effect!" he announced.

Yuya takes his two monster cards and shuffles them into the deck.

"Don't need it right now!" Yuya replied. "When we both don't have monsters on our fields, I can summon this card by reducing its level by 1!" Surprisingly to Yasuko, Yuya was lucky enough to get back his **Performapal Drummerilla,** and Normal Summons it. "I summon Performapal Drummerilla!" And once again, the gorilla drummer appears on the field with its level reduced by one due to its special effect.

 **(Performapal Drummerilla: Level 5** → **4)**

"Battle! Drumerilla attacks you directly!" Yuya jumps onto his gorilla drummer as the ape makes a leap over to pound Sylvio.

"Bring it, Yuya!" Sylvio dared. "Because when you declare a direct attack, I can send one Yosenju in my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon Yosenju Oyam!" Sylvio discards his second copy of **Yosenju Oyam** to let him Special Summon the first one.

The ground ghost appears on Sylvio's field. "Another Yosen Counter lights up!" The fourth candle flares up.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 3** → **4)**

"Oyam's ATK points becomes the same as the monster's original ATK points that it's attacking me!" Oyam gains a boost to be equally matched with the gorilla drummer.

 **(Yosenju Oyam: ATK ?/DEF ?** → **ATK 1600/DEF 1600)**

Despite the odds, Yuya keeps on charging with his ape. "No problem," he said. "Drummerilla's special effect activates!" The gorilla drummer leaps on in the air to glide over to oyam. "One monster gains 600 ATK points until the end of the Battle Phase!" The ride cymbals on the gorilla drummer's shoulders make a couple of bangs to gain an extra attack boost.

 **(Performapal Drummerilla: ATK 1600** → **2200)**

The gorilla drummer pounds its chest drums like an ape to send sound waves to destroy the monster and inflict damage to Sylvio's life points.

 **(Sylvio: LP 2000** → **1400)**

The gorilla drummers hop into the rocky hillside before landing back in the dirt road. "When the battle is over, Drummerilla's effect ends!" Yuya announced. Once the battle has ended, the attack boost from the gorilla ends, reducing its attack points back to normal.

 **(Performapal Drummerilla: ATK 2200** → **1600)**

"I end my turn," Yuya concluded.

 **Turn 8: Sylvio (1x card)**

Despite how excited the crowd is, they were hoping to see Yuya do his signature Pendulum Summon, but he chooses to end his turn without even doing a single thing despite having two pendulum monsters earlier.

"Now, now, don't you worry!" Sylvio reasoned. "I'll successfully and beautifully do the Pendulum Summon!"

"Well, he's sure making full of himself," said Yasuko, staring at Sylvio who is flipping his blonde bangs.

"My turn!" Sylvio draws a card. "Due to Yosen Training Ground's effect, I use three Yosen Counters to add Maysenju Daibak from my deck to my hand!" By extinguishing three of the candles, Sylvio can add **Mayosenju Daibak** to his hand.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 5** → **2)**

For some reason, Yasuko notices how Sylvio is starting to get interested in giving the crowd a big show like Yuya, only for himself. It is as if he's starting to copy Yuya's Entertainment Duel. "Okay, I'm seeing double," she said.

As Sylvio makes his move, the stadium was chanting together to see more of Sylvio's Pendulum Summon. "Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum!" The more the crowd chants, the better it is for Yasuko to see how much Sylvio is enjoying the crowd to live his act.

"That's right! Get more excited! Stronger! Bolder! More passionately! Never mind Yuya!" Sylvio praised as he snaps his finger. "Here I go! I've already set the Pendulum Scale from 3 to 5! Therefore, I can summon level 4 monsters!"

Yasuko is now becoming curious about why Sylvio's intention is being drunken to the cheers of the crowd. "Is he going overboard, or is he making a fool out of himself?" she wondered.

" _I_ _ **Pendulum Summon!**_ _"_ The portal above Sylvio opens up to let he Pendulum Summons **Yosenju Kama 1** , and **Yosenju Kama 3** "Welcome back, Yosenju Kama 1 and Yosenju Kama 3!"

The same two anthropomorphic samurai weasels appear back on the field "Since it counts as a single summon summoning, one Yosenju Counter light up on Yosen Training Grounds." The second candle pops a fire.

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 2** → **3)**

"I'll get rid of that annoying ape first by activating Kama 1's special effect!"

Seeing how Sylvio is going to make another attempt to get rid of his monster, Yuya turns around and heads for the construction site where there is an Action Card hanging in the pole.

"I have to get an Action Card," said Yuya.

"When there's a non-Kama 1 Yosenju monster on my field, I can return your monster to your hand once!" The Kama 1 swishes his kusarigama to send an air slash current over to Yuya's direction. "Vanish, Drummerilla!"

Yuya makes a quick tic-tac maneuver over one pole to the other and swipes the Action Card from a platform. "I activate the Action Spell, Invisibility!" With the Action Spell Card; **Invisibility** , the gorilla drummer turns invisible and sidesteps away from the air slash. "My monster is unaffected by card effects this turn!"

Sylvio is getting ticked of very fast that he was stomping with cartoonish steaks popping out of his head. "Oh, c'mon! Stop vanishing already!" he exclaimed. "That's bananas!"

"But you said you wanted it to vanish," Allie scowled, pursing her lips.

"That's right," Frederick agreed.

"I swear to God, any more of those puns, and I'll lose it," Yasuko hissed, annoyed.

"Fine! I'll just go with Plan B! I tribute my Kama 1 and Kama 3 to Tribute Summon Daibak!" The two Yosenju monsters dispersed into dust as Sylvio Tribute Summon **Mayosenju Daibak**. "And once again, Yosen Counter lights up."

 **(Yosen Training Ground: Yosen Counter 3** → **4)**

Despite how Yuya is cornered, he doesn't seem bothered by it. He was very motivated. This is what he wanted. A back-to-back duel that will get the crowd to love. Everyone in the stadium is very excited and more energetic than ever.

"Wipe off the grin," Sylvio rebuked. "Don't you see you're about to lose?"

Yuya snorts. "Sorry, Sylvio," he replied. "But the crowd is excited."

"So what?" Sylvio scolded.

"So that's what this is all about," Yuya interjected. "Our back-and-forth duel has created an unpredictable show that's exciting them. Giving them a good show, giving everything we've got. It's what matters the most."

Yuya takes a glance over to the stands where his You-Show classmates are. "I aim to become the best Entertainment Duelist ever to make everyone smile," he vowed. "I didn't know this was possible before, so I can't help but to enjoy this moment!"

Ironically, Sylvio had to agree with Yuya. "I also can't help to enjoy this match, too," he admitted. "Because I can crush you in front of the huge crowd!"

To think that even his opponent who would want to crush him is enjoying their match, Yuya is feeling more determined than ever. "Sawatari…" he said before making a big beam. "I won't let you win that easily! This show will get even more exciting!"

"Doubt it!" Sylvio proclaimed. "Because you're going down right now!" He points at Yuya's gorilla drummer. "Let's battle! Mayosenju Daibak attack Dummerilla!" The kamaitachi wolf beast turns its horn over to blast a tornado at the monster.

"I activate Drummerilla's special effect!" Yuya declared. "One monster on my field gains 600 ATK points until the end of the Battle Phase!" The gorilla drummer pounds its drum chest to get a boost.

 **(Performapam Drummerilla: ATK 1600** → **2200)**

Even though the gorilla drummer is destroyed, it did manage to save Yuya some life points.

 **(Yuya: LP 2200** → **1400)**

"The destroyed Drummerilla goes to the Extra Deck," Yuya informed.

The crowd is loud, and they're getting even louder. The more Yuya and Sylvio duel, the louder the crowd gets to cheer who can win.

"Got to say; Yuya's growing even more in this duel," said Yasuko.

"And Sawatari is also doing quite well," Gongenzaka added.

"It's like they're racing each other," Zuzu stated.

"I end my turn," Sylvio concluded.

 **Turn 9: Yuya (3x cards)**

The forest green-haired girl notices how the kamaitachi wolf beast remains on the field. "A nice strategy for Sylvio," Yasuko murmured. "Since Daibak is Tribute Summoned, that means it gets to stay in the field. Smart move there."

The crowd was so hyped up that they all chanted together again, "Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum! Pendulum!"

"Do it, entertainment duelist," Sylvio insisted.

Yuya was surprised that Sylvio's being modest about his next move. He had no idea that someone like Sylvio was willing to let him bring the best show.

"The stadium is excited about this duel," said Sylvio. "The whole crowd was still reeling in from Yasuko's duel, so they're expecting you to do something spectacular."

"Sylvio…" said Yuya, almost speechless by Sylvio's generosity.

"Now, it's your turn!" Sylvio stated. "Let's see how you respond!"

Yuya can hear the crowd's cheers roaring in his ears. They wanted more of Pendulum Summon. Yuya is obligated to listen to the whole stadium, and he will do the best Entertainment Duel to the crowd, and hopefully, this duel will be enough to make Yasuko smile.

Yuya felt the corner of his mouth curved up, ready to give the audience the closing act of the third duel. And then, in a blink of an eye, a spotlight shine from out of nowhere to Yuya Sakaki.

"Ladies and Gentlemen!" Yuya announced his catchphrase. "As you can see, there are no monsters or Set cards on my field." He places a finger on his deck. "My next draw will be the draw of destiny with everything on the line! Make sure to applaud if I am successful!" The audience went dead silent for a brief moment before he makes one draw that causes the stars to sparkle in a light motion trail. "I draw!"

Yuya takes a look at the card. He has drawn the Spell Card: **Pendulum Halt,** which could change the game for him. "Alright," he beamed. "Time to give this crowd a performance that they'll never ever forget!" Yuya plays the Spell Card: **Pendulum Halt**. "I activate the Spell, Pendulum Halt! When there are three or more Pendulum monsters in my Extra Deck with different names, I can draw two cards, but for the rest of the turn, I cannot add any cards after this spell resolves."

Yuya places two fingers on top of his deck. He breathes with every inch, hoping to draw any of the two cards that could turn the tide of the duel around for him. "Alright, here we go!" Yuya draws two cards with stars sparkling in his motion trail. He looks at the two cards that he drew, and it was the two cards that he hoped for: **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon** and **Performapal Trump Witch**.

With his hands ready, Yuya can begin his second move. "I set the Pendulum Scale with my Scale 4 Performapal Trump Witch and my Scale 8 Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn!" Yuya declared. "Its time to take back control of this duel starting now!" Yuya sets his **Performapal Trump Witch (Scale 4)** and his **Performapal Odd-Eyes Unicorn (Scale 8)** at the edges of his yellow blade, reforming the rainbow 'PENDULUM' word.

Inside of Yuya's Pendulum Zones are two monsters: the little jester blond girl with a patched dress, and the light green unicorn that has pink mane with an orange vest and a polka-dot bow tie who bears the heterochromia red and green eyes float up in the air. They float under the pillars of light until they stop mid-air with their respective Pendulum Scale number underneath them as a giant pendant floats above Yuya once again.

"I can summon any monsters between levels 5 and 7 all at the same time," said Yuya. _"Swing! Pendulum of the Soul! Carve the arc of the ether! I_ _ **Pendulum Summon!**_ _Come on out, monster servants!"_ The portal above Yuya comes three beams of light.

"Performapal Drummerilla! And the heroic red dragon with dichromatic eyes! Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!" Yuya Pendulum Summons **Performapal Drummerilla** and **Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon**.

At once, the gorilla drummer, and Odd-Eyes Pendulum appears on the field simultaneously. Odd-Eyes Pendulum roars after making its appearance.

"Go ahead and attack me, Yuya, I dare you," Sylvio provoked.

"Then, let's battle!" Yuya declared. "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, attack Daibak!"

Odd-Eyes Pendulum starts to stomp its massive feet to charge directly at the daibak monster. Yuya assists his monster with his next move. "During the Battle Phase, I activate Drummerilla's special effect!" he declared. "I can target one monster on the field, and it gains 600 ATK points!" The drummerilla pounds its chest drums to make signals, giving Odd-Eyes Pendulum an extra attack boost for the monster.

 **(Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon: ATK 2500** → **3100)**

Odd-Eyes Pendulum makes a jump over to tackle the daibak monster and destroy it, but Sylvio had something in his sleeve. "Not so fast, I activate Shinchu L's Pendulum effect!" he declared. "When a Yosenju monster would be destroyed by battle or card effects, I can destroy Shinchu L instead to negate its destruction!"

The shinchu L in Sylvio's Pendulum Zone disappears from the field to stop daibak from self-destruction, saving himself some of the life points.

 **(Sylvio: LP 1400** → **1200)**

With the daibak beast still in play, the duelists are not stopping to entertain the crowd. Everyone was practically at the edge of their seats, watching the two duelists coming closer to victory or defeat.

"Let's enjoy ourselves!" Sylvio called.

"Yeah!" Yuya agreed. "The fun is just getting started! I'm going to give the audience here a spectacular show business I like to call, Pendulum-Fusion!" Yuya proclaimed, pointing up to the trump witch. "I activate Performapal Trump Witch's special effect! Once per turn, during my Main or Battle Phase, I can Fusion Summon one monster that has the Fusion materials on the field!"

Sylvio's eyes widened. "Pendulum-Fusion?"

The trump witch brings up her skull staff to emit a ray of playing card suit symbols over to the drummerilla and Odd-Eyes Pendulum. The two monsters are then consumed by the swirling vortex of red and blue.

" _The forest stage who thumps its chest, and the beautiful red dragon with heterochromia red and green eyes, merge together and become the ultimate new power bestowed upon thy!_ I _**Fusion Summon**_ _! Appear, the ferocious dragon of beastly eyes! Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon!_ " Yuya Fusion Summons **Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon (ATK 3000/DEF 2500)** in Attack Position. The swirling vortex pops out a monster that won him the ticket to the Arc League. The Beast Eyes with its khaki brown bone armor that resembles that of Odd-Eyes Phantom and covered in fur from underneath as its green and gold eyes glow while the third eye in the center twirls on its forehead.

Beast-Eyes emerges from the portal and roars with a high pitch roar, booming in the stadium.

"Would you look at that!" Nico screamed. "Pendulum Summon and then a Fusion Summon! What an incredible day this even has turned out to be! First Yasuko, and now, Yuya! This duel is going to be epic!"

Yuya and Sylvio stare at each other for a brief moment before their eyes rove over to the two Action Cards that appear after one of the rooftops pieces fall off.

"Let's battle!" Yuya declared. "Beast-Eyes, attack Daibak!" Beast-Eyes charges directly toward the daibak beast with Yuya hitching a ride on top of its horns.

Sylvio and Yuya take a glance over to each of their sides, seeing two Action Cards that are appearing from the destroyed rooftop of the castle.

Sylvio runs over to the destroyed castle as Yuya leaps off from Beast-Eyes to get himself the Action Card. At the same time, the two monsters fire their strongest attacks at each other.

Sylvio grabs one Action Card, and Yuya gets the second one.

 _KA-BOOOM!_

Both monsters are instantly destroyed in the explosion. The audience and the You-Show are watching what happened and seeing who won.

"I activate the Action Spell, Burning Barrel!" As the dust and debris vanish, Sylvio had plays the Action Spell Card, **Burning Barrel**. "This card deals you damage equal to half of the ATK points of your destroyed monster!" A barrel pops out and fires a burning flame over his head to Yuya standing on top of the castle roof. "That means you lose!"

As the flames come to the boy, four hands and a blanket appear out of nowhere and repels the fire, bouncing it up over to the sky where it explodes into multiple fireworks.

"What in the world!?" Sylvio gasped in shock.

"Due to the Action Spell, Miracle, Beast-Eyes isn't destroyed, and I don't take any damage because it isn't destroyed, so your effect is negated!" Yuya was able to activate the Action Spell Card: **Miracle** , to avoid any destruction of his monster.

"That was too splashy!" Sylvio exclaimed. As the smog disappears, Rune-Eyes appears unharmed.

"And now, I activate Beast -Eyes' special effect!" Yuya added. "When it destroys a monster in battle, you take damage equal to the ATK points of the Beast-type monster that I used to Fusion Summon it!"

"No way! This can't be!" Sylvio panicked.

The mirage of the gorilla drummer appears before Sylvio, and Beast-Eyes unleashes a powerful blue beam straight at Sylvio's direction, pushing him to the ground to end his life points.

 **(Sylvio: LP 1200** → **0)**

 **WINNER: Yuya Sakaki**

After an intense duel between two pendulum users, the Action Field disperses back to its original black screen arena with a machine underneath.

"It's all over, people!" Nico announced. "The winner of the third match goes to the You-Show Entertainment Duelists, Yuya Sakaki!"

Yuya approaches Sylvio, who is down on the ground after being defeated by Yuya once again. He stops and bends over to lend him a hand. Sylvio could only look up, and he gives up a groan in response to his frustration.

Sylvio gets back up just as the crowd makes loud applause for both duelists who did their best to win the duel. The applause grew louder. The audience enjoyed the duel just as much as Yasuko's Pendulum Summon.

"We made them excited," said Yuya.

Despite being defeated for the second time against Yuya, Sylvio seems satisfied with the result of their duel. He and Yuya waves at the crowd to show their appreciation for watching their duel.

Yuya turns over to the other side of the stands where the You-Show people and Gongenzaka cheer to him for an epic duel. The only one who wasn't cheering like everyone else was Yasuko. However, upon looking at her face, the only thing that he saw was a small twitch from the corners of her mouth.

From the moment Yuya saw how Yasuko twitched her mouth, he knew right then and now that the Entertainment duel was able to get everyone smiles in his duel, but not Yasuko. He cannot tell if Yasuko enjoyed the duel or not. All he knows is that Yasuko didn't smile in his duel against Sylvio. When he saw the mouth twitched by a bit, he knew right then that Yasuko is going to be his most difficult task to do in his Entertainment Duel.

* * *

 **Okay, truth.**

 **The reason for my delays was because of the school-related stuff. It gave me an excuse for a temporary hiatus because of that. Now to make it up. I will possibly give two chapter updates before the end of the month if I can make the deadline. I was also working on rough drafts for other stories, so I can keep looking over how each chapter is posted in the story. I apologize for any delays in this story update because I was busy. Plus, my Grammarly was having a lag, so I was delayed again.**

 **I'm trying to split the perspectives between the male protagonist and the female protagonist and keep only the important duels that may seem to be essential to the story, but not every duels like this one This is just me trying to rewrite the story and find out how each of these decks would've adapted in different scenarios. It's not the best, but I will try and see how they worked.**

 **Thank you for your patience on the update of this chapter. I might try and post the second one by the end of the month. So wish me luck. If you like what you read about this story, don't forget to give me a comment on what you like, what you think it needs improvement, and what I can do to make the story interesting. Thank you, and have a great day!**


	36. Chapter 36: Rise in Revolution

**Disclaimer: I do not own the properties of the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise or the work of the cards; I only own the OCs that could or may be involved in this series. I own nothing of the real OCG cards, just the formal OC character.**

* * *

 _Arc League Championship — Chapter 36: Rise in Revolution; Sora Perse vs Shun Obsidian_

* * *

The last match of the day was about to begin after Yuya's duel against Sylvio Sawatari. The marks of Pendulum Summon left by Yasuko, and the duel between Yuya and Sylvio has still left a lot of energy in the crowd for the final duel of the day.

Yasuko was mostly preoccupied in her mind, thinking of what Shun Obsidian has in his sleeves. She was watching the sky-blue haired young boy, Sora Perse, walk down to the arena with a big smile on his face, waving at the crowd as if he was being adored by everyone. Not that she cannot ignore how much Sora is putting into being just as popular as her or Yuya, she was focusing on knowing what Shun Obsidian is capable of. She starts to recall everything that happened in her last duel against Shun. For some reason, she felt that he was holding back against her in their previous duel.

Yasuko was so preoccupied with Shun hat she failed to notice that Yuya was calling to her. "Yasuko," he said. "Yasuko."

Yasuko was snapped out of her thoughts and turned over to Yuya at her left side. "Huh, what?" she inquired.

"Did you like my duel?" Yuya asked. He had a huge smile on his face with anticipation. "How was it? Did you like it? Did it made you smile?" He was smiling like he enjoyed the duel himself. "I bet that got you to curve something, eh?"

Yuya was hoping that the answer from Yasuko would be a 'yes,' but the only thing that he gets was a dull response. "It was alright," she stated. "I can see that you've definitely made some improvements in the last duel against Gongenzaka." She glanced at Yuya and said, "I'll be expecting some more out of you in your duels."

Yuya can see how serious Yasuko is making based on her facial expression. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Didn't you like it?"

Yasuko doesn't want the time to be discussing whether Yuya's last duel made her smile because she was trying to concentrate on learning more about Shun. She lets out a sigh. "Yuya, you did fine," she responded.

"Then why are you so serious?" Yuya asked.

"Because he's here," Yasuko answered, pointing at the stadium.

Yuya follows his gaze over to the stadium and saw what Yasuko is seeing. He can see Shun Obsidian walking to the center of the stadium. Upon seeing his face, Yuya got just as serious as Yasuko is, glaring at the mysterious student or boy. "There's our friend," said Yuya.

Yasuko was focus on Shun Obsidian, who was walking down the arena with disappointment. She can tell that Shun does not want to be here, or in front of the entire stadium. She wonders what's been knocking in his mind.

"I can't believe that someone like Shun would be dueling for the LDS after all the drama that he's been through with Julia," said Zuzu, also looking at Shun with concern.

"You said that she knew Shun for about a year now," Yasuko responded. "Just how much does she know about Shun?"

"I don't know, and I still don't get it," Zuzu replied. "Shun was the one who attacked Julia's teacher and all of those LDS students." She looked over to Yuya and Yasuko and said, "Julia knew that and she has battled against Obsidian before, but by the time I arrived, everyone was gone."

Yasuko was processing Zuzu's story from her point of view. She can guess that Shun dueled against either Julia or some of the other students who fell victim to him and his friend, Yuto Abiko. "And then, we just found out that Shun is now dueling for the LDS, is that right?" she questioned.

"Exactly," Zuzu confirmed. "When I met Julia at the inauguration ceremony, she acted like nothing happened between the two of them."

Yasuko is thinking that something must've happened to Julia and the rest of the LDS students who confronted Shun Obsidian. "A memory wipe," she whispered.

Zuzu turns to Yasuko and asked her something regarding her confrontation with Shun Obsidian. "Yasuko, you've dueled against Shun Obsidian before, how'd he win against the Leo's elite?"

Yasuko narrows her eyes at Shun, recalling anything that happened in her duel against Shun after he accused him of being LDS. "Shun is an Xyz user," she stated. If memories serve, she can assume that Shun has something else besides that monster that he used to nearly obliterated her. "He specializes in Xyz Summon and he uses something called a 'Raidraptor' deck."

Yuya faces her. "Raidraptor?" he wondered.

Yasuko nodded. "That's all I know, I don't know the rest."

"I saw him duel Yasuko, and he nearly had her before," said Yuya, "and we saw what he did to the LDS elite."

There was a ping of nagging inside the back of Yasuko's head when she saw Shun again. Now that she is watching Shun duel, she starts to think of what Shun could've done to beat her so easily. The boy is a mystery, even to her. It could be possible that Shun is hiding his true abilities from her in the last duel.

"His Xyz monster was powerful," Yuya admitted. "It was like we were hit with the real shockwaves."

"And something tells me that Shun is going to be very merciless when he sees Sora Fusion Summon in front of him," Yasuko divulged. "He seems to be serious when it comes to people who use Fusion Summon." She left out the part of Yuto Abiko, Yuya's doppelganger, spoke about people who are related to the Fusion being enemies. If Shun is with Yuto, then she could connect them to be having the common Enemy against Fusion.

Yuya comes over to the railing with concern for Sora. "Sora, be careful!" he warned. "Don't let your guard down!"

Yasuko can hear how much Yuya is afraid of Shun, but she doubts Sora will listen to any warnings that Yuya might perceive regarding Shun and his dangerous abilities.

"Don't you worry!" Sora called from the arena. "I'm the one who'll entertain you this time, Yuya, so just sit back, relax and enjoy the show!"

If Shun is mysterious, then Sora might be someone that she doesn't know about. She knows that Sora uses Fusion Summon; in fact, she never saw Sora duel before. Perhaps, this could be the biggest opportunity for her. However, something is bothering her. She doesn't know anything about Sora Perse. The only thing that she knows about Sora is that he's a transfer student.

"The final match of the day is about to begin!" Nico announced in the microphone. "First, let's select the Action Field Spell!"

The sphere above the two duelists rotates faster than a blink of an eye until it stops at the Action Field Spell: **Neo Heartland City**. "It looks like we'll be battling is Action Field Spell: Neo Heartland City!"

The first time Yasuko saw a reaction from Shun without his mask was a state of shock and confusion. "What?!" he gasped.

"This is the perfect stage for the duel of two duelists who will carry the future of dueling in their shoulders!" Nico cheered. "Action Field Spell on! Activate the Field Spell, Neo Heartland City!"

The arc system underneath the arena turns on, activating the stage that seems to be glaring Shun's frown. "Heartland…" he growled lowly.

The arena transforms into a city of paradise and science. The buildings are very high, surrounded by a forty-foot wall with a giant tower that shares a heart shape top that signified the name of the city. The city skyline shines the night with a rainbow of color lights that illuminates the metropolis. There were even parks inside the arena.

Everyone was captivated by the appearance of the Action Field Spell. They have this shine in their eyes that brightens up their hearts.

Yasuko finds the field spell to be captivating because of how the city structured looked from a sci-fi movie.

"Oh, wow," Allie breathed. "Look at those beautiful lights!"

"It's like we're inside of a science fiction movie!" Tate beamed.

"It's so futuristic that it gives me the shivers!" Frederick squealed.

Even Sora was attracted to the sight of the Action Field Spell. "You know, I'd be even more excited if this place was made out of candy," he said. "But since the crowd is eating it up, I guess it's fine if the city is not made of candy. Right?"

While everyone was amazed by the field spell, Yasuko was more focused on Shun. She saw how he reacted to seeing the Action Field Spell, and just by looking at him closely, she can see that Shun bears the most infuriating scowl that she has ever seen. The second reaction from Shun was anger and fury. She can see how Shun is enraged by the Action Field Spell. Shun is clenching his jaws, and his fist tightening means that something was going on inside of Shun.

The sight of his angry face makes Yasuko raised an eyebrow. "Oh, this should be interesting," she said.

"What's the matter, Shun?" Sora asked. "Are you feeling sick or something? You wanna take a break and duel later, maybe?"

Shun seems to snap out of his thoughts and glares hard at Sora. "Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about yourself," he hissed. "If you are a Fusion Summon user, then I'll show you no mercy." Shun gets ready and activates his duel disk.

Yasuko can feel the fire burning from Shun already even though the duel hasn't started. "Yep," she murmured. "Sora's definitely screwed."

"Okay, let's start the show!" Sora beamed, activating his own duel disk. "Everyone, my entertainment duel is about to begin! Please cheer for me like you did for Yuya!"

Yasuko is watching everything in the stadium grow more alive than before. The audience wants more of the entertainment duel from You-Show. She keeps a straight face, watching the duel that is about to begin.

"The duelists meet on the battlefield!" Sora chanted.

Shun did not respond to any of Sora's chants.

"Huh, c'mon," Sora whined. "Go with the flow!" Again, Shun did not respond. "If I say hey, you say ho. If I say mountain, you say river! It's called call and response. Understand?"

Shun did not say anything. He just stood there with his duel disk ready.

"Alright, then I'll do it," said Sora, given up on speaking to Shun. "I'll do it with everyone!" He turns to the audience in the stadium. "From the start! The duelists meet at the battlefield!"

"Along with their monsters, they kicked the earth and flew through the sky!" The crowd, except Yasuko, responded with a loud boom.

"To move around the field!" The audience chorused.

"Witness the greatest evolution of dueling!" Nico announced.

"Action…"

 **DUEL**

 **Sora Perse (LP 4000)**

 **VS**

 **Shun Obsidian (LP 4000)**

" _ **DUEL!"**_

The Action Card bubble that was hovering above the two duelists pops, spreading Action Cards everywhere. Both duelists have their hands ready.

"The call and response with the crowd went perfectly!" Nico praised. "The field is ready, the crowd is ready, and the duelists are ready for the fourth magnificent match of the day!"

 **Turn 1: Sora (5x cards)**

"I'll go first!" Sora declared. He takes out a card and Normal Summons **Fluffal Penguin (ATK 1600/DEF 1200)**. "For my first move, I'll start by summoning Fluffal Penguin!" A stuffed penguin with furry earmuffs and wing tie appears on the field.

"How cute!" Almost everyone, except Yasuko, said altogether, enchanted by the cuteness of Sora's monster.

"Yeah, right?" Sora inquired. "But, I'll bring out something even cuter!" Sora throws out his hand over to the stuffed penguin. "Fluffal Penguin's special effect allows me to Special Summon a Fluffal monster from my hand once per turn!" Sora proceeds to take out a second card and Special Summons **Fluffal Bear (ATK 1200/DEF 800)** in Defense Position. "I Special Summon Fluffal Bear!" The monster that pops out on the field is a stuffed pink bear with angel wings and a red scarf.

"How cute!" The crowd, minus Yasuko, exclaimed with excitement.

Sora takes out one more card and Sets it. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn!"

 **Turn 2: Shun (5x cards)**

"You're up, Shun," said Sora. "Let's make this the greatest show that everyone's ever seen!"

"The greatest show they've ever seen?" Shun questioned.

Yasuko is sure that Shun is not really enjoying the duel; however, she did listen to what Shun was about to say to not only to Sora but to everyone else in the crowd.

"In my hometown, dueling is the greatest show," said Shun. "Dueling was the greatest…" Yasuko can see him closing his eyes as if he's trying to remember something. "Adults and children both enjoyed it with all their hearts, and everyone admired duelists," he reminisced. "The joys and happiness, the sounds of the people's laughter and cheering…It was all taken that day, replaced with a deafening silence." Shun's eyes opened to take a good long look at the field spell. "Nothing could've prepared us. It happened too quickly."

Yasuko can bet that everyone was listening to Shun and his weird crazy story. She assumes that it was strange, but then something deep inside made her want to hear him out. "On that day, the enemy just showed up and attacked our city, turning it into a battlefield," Shun described. "Changing our lives forever."

Sora was confused, trying to figure out what Shun was talking about. "Enemy? Battlefield?" he questioned. "What are you talking about?"

The more Shun spoke his story, the fewer people understood him. They thought that he was being weird for telling his opponent a random tale. The only one who may seem to understand is Yasuko. She's watched movies and stories about the calm before the storm scenario where peaceful people were under attacked by an enemy and their overwhelming firepower. She wonders if Shun was speaking from experience.

"He's talking nonsense," Gongenzaka criticized.

"You shut up, Gong," Yasuko retorted. "I want to hear his story."

"Come to think of it, back then…" Zuzu realized. "He spoke of something about a battlefield."

"Battlefield?" Yuya inquired. "What is he talking about?"

"He suddenly appeared in front of Julia and me," Zuzu explained. "I believe dueling is not fun and games to him."

Yasuko can only half-listened to Zuzu. She was more fixated on Shun. She wants to know his reasoning for being one of the LDS duelists in the Arc League. There has to be a motive behind his recent activities, and Sora is not helping out much because he looked disappointed with Shun.

"Sheesh, you really don't know how to read a crowd," said Sora. "I summoned two of the cutest monsters to get the crowd fired up, and you're being a downer." He looked even more bumped out by Shun's attitude. "I said that we should have the greatest show ever together! If I caused a boom, then you have come back with a bang—"

"My turn," Shun interrupted, much to Sora's annoyance. He draws a card from his deck. "Due to the sudden turn of events, we were thrown into chaos, it took everything we had to form a makeshift defense. We stand true, but to no avail and countless lives were lost on that day."

"So, are we gonna duel or not?" Sora inquired blandly.

"Oh, I'll duel alright," Shun responded. "I summon Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius!" Shun Normal Summons **Raidraptor** — **Vanishing Lanius (ATK 1300/DEF 1600)**. A green mechanical lanius with thruster wings and razor-sharp claws appear on the field.

The sight of the green mechanical lanius startled Yuya and Yasuko. It's been confirmed to them; Shun Obsidian is the duelist who attacked Yasuko.

"What the hell?" Yasuko inhaled. "That's the monster I dueled against."

"It's the same one from before," said Yuya.

Yasuko is sure that Shun was probably holding back against her in her last confrontation with him. How strong he is; she doesn't know. She watched Shun take out another card from his hand. "When Vanishing Lanius is summoned this turn, I can Special Summon a Raidraptor monster from my hand," he said. "I Special Summon Raidraptor – Tribute Lanius!" Shun Special Summons **Raidraptor – Tribute Lanius (ATK 1800/DEF 400)** in Attack Position. The second Raidraptor monster that Shun summoned is a blue mechanical lanius with eight larger thrusters on the wings and multiple sets of sharp bit weapons as feathers.

"Tribute Lanius' special effect activates!" Shun called. "When this monster is Summoned, I can send one Raidraptor card from my deck to the graveyard!" He picks one and sends **Raidraptor – Mimicry Lanius** to the graveyard. "And I choose to send my Raidraptor – Mimicry Lanius to the graveyard." After he sent the monster to the graveyard, Shun can activate the third monster. "Now, I activate Mimicry's special effect," he added. "When Mimicry Lanius is sent to the graveyard this turn, I can banish it to add one Raidraptor card from my deck to my hand."

Shun banishes his mimicry lanius to add himself the Continuous Spell Card: **Raidraptor – Nest** from his deck to his hand. "I add Raidraptor – Nest from my deck to my hand," he said. "But I'm not done just yet. I activate Raidraptor – Nest!" Shun declared. "If I have two or more Raidraptor monsters on my field, I can add one Raidraptor monster from my deck to my hand!" Shun selects one card from his deck and adds himself a **Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius**. "I add Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius from my deck to my hand!" he announced.

"Now, battle!" Shun declared. "Vanishing Lanius, attack Fluffal Bear! Tribute Lanius, attack Fluffal Penguin!" The blue mechanical lanius launches its bits in the air, and the green lanius swoops in and slashes the stuffed bear. The bits from the tribute lanius cut the stuffed penguin into pieces, destroying it and dealing battle damage to Sora.

 **(Sora: LP 4000** → **3800)**

The destruction of two monsters left a shockwave that blows a current to the little boy. One of the spectators, a little girl, was crying over the loss of the stuffed bear.

"Don't worry, I'll save it right away," Sora beamed. "I activate the Trap, Fluffal Crane!" Sora flips up his face-down Trap Card: **Fluffal Crane**. A giant crane conjures itself in front of Sora as the crane descends to pick up the stuffed bear. "This card lets me return a Fluffal monster that was destroyed in battle back to my hand, and I draw one card from my deck!" Sora draws a card from his deck. "You have to respond quickly, right?" Sora gives a wink to show off his cute signature smile to the opponent and to the crowd.

"Oh, I'm not too worried about that," said Shun. "Now Tribute Lanius' special effect activates," Shun looks over his deck to find which card that he can choose from due to the tribute lanius' special effect. "It lets me add a Spell Card from my deck to my hand." He decides to add the one _specific_ Spell Card that will give him the advantage.

"Well, you move fast, but it doesn't matter how many monsters you line up," Sora teased. "I'm still gonna beat ya."

"We'll see about that," Shun replied. "I Set a card face-down, and I end my turn," Shun Sets a card.

 **Turn 3: Sora (4x cards)**

Despite losing two of his monsters, Sora is confident that he can come back through.

"They each took one turn," Nico announced. "But Shun seems to have the advantage over Sora with two monsters and a face-down. They're off to an equal start. Their sweaty hands gripped their cards! Will the Goddess of Victory shine upon Sora Perse or Shun Obsidian?"

Yasuko pays attention to the face-down that Shun played before in his last turn. She suspects that Shun played the face-down as a pre-emptive response to anything that Sora may throw at him.

"She's gonna smile upon the one who entertains the crowd more," said Sora. "I'll entertain you with everything I've got!" He places a finger on his deck. "Here I go! My turn now! I draw!" Sora draws a card from his deck.

"I activate the Spell, Frightfur Patchwork!" Sora activates the Spell Card: **Frightfur Patchwork**. "This lets me add one Edge Imp and one certain spell card from my deck to my hand!" Sora selects the two cards and adds himself an **Edge Imp Sabre** from his deck and **Polymerization**. "The two cards that I add to my hand are Edge Imp Sabre and the spell card, Polymerization!"

When Shun saw Sora adding the Fusion spell card, he's even more infuriated after seeing the spell card. His glare seems to harden enough to catch Yasuko's attention. She saw how Shun reacted not only to the Action Field Spell but also to Sora's spell card. She remembers from Yuto that Fusion is the Enemy. Whoever this Fusion is, she knows that the spell card seemed to upset Shun.

"Oh, this could be bloody," Yasuko muttered under her breath.

The spotlights from the stadium shine upon Sora from the top of the upper platform. "Ladies and Gentlemen!" Sora announced Yuya's catchphrase, which got the entire crowd going wild. "Prepare yourself to witness the authentic Fusion Summon!"

Yasuko is sure that now everyone's copying Yuya's s Dueltainment Style. First, it was Sylvio Sawatari, and now it's Sora Perse's turn to be like Yuya. "Okay, why is everyone being like you, Yuya?" she asked.

Yuya shrugged. "I don't know," he answered. "I guess I'm just popular today."

Yasuko turns her head away from Yuya. "Figures," she commented.

Sora proceeds to activate the spell card. "Now, I activate the Spell, Polymerization!" he exclaimed. "I fuse Edge Imp Sabre and Fluffal Bear from my hand!" Sora takes out his two monsters, **Edge Imp Sabre** and **Fluffal Bear** , from his hand to the graveyard.

At once, the pink stuffed bear and the monster who has multiple scissors as the body with two big red glowing red, pink eyes appear before Sora. The two monsters are consumed by the swirling vortex of red and blue.

" _Devil's claws and beast's fangs! Become one and show your new power and look! I_ _ **Fusion Summon!**_ " Sora chanted. " _Appear! The hair-raising beast that slashes everything! Frightfur Bear!"_ Sora Fusion Summons **Frightfur Bear (ATK 2200/DEF 1000)** in Attack Position.

The stuffed pink bear transforms into a twisted nightmare version of its original self with scissor blades piercing out of the belly, scissor limbs, and an open jaw that has eyes underneath the head.

Yasuko finds Sora impressive with his Fusion Summon and the monster that she is seeing for the first time. Sora is starting off strong to make a comeback and deal some damage to Shun.

"Now, let's battle!" Sora declared. "Frightfur Bear, attack Vanishing Lanius!" He targets the weakest monster as the nightmare bear monster raises its paw and launches it like a grappling hook to deliver a punch that destroyed the green mechanical lanius and dealing battle damage to Shun.

 **(Shun: LP 4000** → **3100)**

"He did it!" Frederick praised.

"He took away 900 of his life points!" Tate beamed.

"I didn't only take away his life points!" Sora reminded. "Doncha, remember? Frightfur Bear's special effect can equip itself to a monster that it destroys and gain its ATK points!" The nightmare bear glows in yellow aura to activate its special ability, conjuring the astral form of the vanishing lanius and chomps down on its energy, giving it a significant attack boost.

 **(Frightfur Bear: ATK 2200** → **3500)**

Yasuko was not impressed with the attack boost because she expected Shun to counteract the effect with his face-down, and he did.

"I activate the trap! Raidraptor – Return!" Shun activates the Trap Card: **Raidraptor — Return**. "This card lets me target a Raidraptor monster that was destroyed in battle back to my hand!" Once the trap card lights up, the nightmare bear expelled all of the essences of the vanishing lanius, and Shun adds his monster back to his hand. The extra power boost that the nightmare bear received was extinguished, reverting back to its original attack points.

 **(Frightfur Bear: ATK 3500** → **2200)**

Sora, the You-Show people, and Gongenzaka were surprised that Shun had managed to get his monster back to his hand after it was destroyed in battle.

"It came back," said Allie.

"He had the trap prepared?" Tate inquired. "It was like he was waiting for it to happen."

"It's no wonder he's LDS," Gongenzaka stated.

The only one who wasn't surprised by Shun's actions was Yasuko. She anticipated hat Shun had a counter for Sora and his monster, so it wasn't surprising to her that Shun had his trap prepared beforehand. "Shun seems to specialize in Spells and Traps," she said. "There's more it than that."

Yasuko takes a glance over to Sora, who seems rather calm and impressed with Shun. "I guess it would be boring if you wouldn't survive this," he said.

Sora takes out a card from his hand and Sets it. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn," he concluded.

 **Turn 4: Shun (6x cards)**

"The back-and-forth attacks and defense are making me breathless! These players are going at it! Toe-to-toe! Blow-to-blow!" Nico announced. "I sense that this fourth match will be an incredible game! Would anyone object me saying that even at this early stage?"

"That depends on him," said Sora, sticking a lollipop out. "You said that you wouldn't show any mercy, so you should get serious any time soon." He throws the lollipop in the air and then catches it with his mouth. "Or is it taking everything you have to defend yourself, so you can't take the offensive."

"That was true from the start," said Shun. "Losing was never an option. Against an enemy with overwhelming power, it took everything we had to protect ourselves."

Shun went on retelling his story that no one understood. Yasuko was a bit confused, but she was starting to collect the pieces together, watching Shun without a single glance away. Her eyes narrowed, listening to the story that Shun is bringing up.

"But without an organized resistance force, there was nothing that we can do," Shun stated. "We struggle to hold out our own even as our numbers and hope started to fade. We lose one teammate after another. It was a desperate time, but we learned something in the hopeless battle…we must win in order to survive." Shun was glaring up to Sora from the ground that he remained as he proclaimed, "Only those who have the absolute iron will to win can survive hell!"

Yasuko can, somewhat, relate herself to Shun's perspective. Like him, she had to survive her own type of hell by winning so many duels and never go soft on her duels to make her victorious over her opponents. Even duelists need to take something seriously about their matches. She can see that Sora is getting a bit determined about Shun.

"My turn," said Shun. "I draw!" Shun draws a card from his deck to his hand. "And I summon Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius!" Shun Normal Summons **Raidraptor – Vanishing Lanius**. The green mechanical lanius returns back to the field. "Now, Vanishing Lanius' special effect activates! When it is summoned this turn, I can Special Summon a Raidraptor monster from my hand!" Shun takes out a card to Special Summon **Raidraptor – Napalm Dragonius (ATK 1000/DEF 1000)** in Defense Position. The second Raidraptor monster that Shun summoned is the same one that Yasuko encountered from before. The white raptor monster with no legs, but a long tail with thruster wings and one red optic eye at the forehead.

"Napalm Dragonius' special effect activates!" Shun exclaimed. He points at Sora. "Once per turn, this card deals 600 points of damage!" At his command, the napalm dragonius opens its jaws wide and fires a flamethrower at Sora. The boy gets hit with the flames burning around him for effect damage.

 **(Sora: LP 3800** → **3200)**

Sora is starting to get even more intimidated when he saw three types of mechanical bird monsters on Shun's field. "Now, he's got three flocks of those things," he said.

Yasuko counted three monsters with the same level, which means she can guess what's coming next. "Three level 4 monsters, and you know what that means…" Yasuko stated.

"Oh no," Yuya panicked, sounding afraid of what's to come. "This is the same as the last time."

"I Overlay my Vanishing Lanius, Tribute Lanius, and my Napalm Dragonius to build the Overlay Network!" Shun announced.

The two lanius monsters and the dragonius turn into three purple lights before shooting up like a rocket and falling down into the galaxy portal beneath Shun's feet. The purple lights were swallowed before the galaxy portal bursts a bright light from the ground.

" _Obscured falcon! From the adversity, raise your sharpened claws! Rise and spread your wings of rebellion! I_ _ **Xyz Summon**_ _! Appear! Rank 4! Raidraptor – Rise Falcon!"_ Shun chanted before Yasuko as he Xyz Summons **Raidraptor** – **Rise Falcon (ATK 100/DEF 2000)** in Attack Position.

The monster that appears before Yasuko's eyes is the same one that she dueled before. She can recognize that massive purple mechanical falcon with thruster wings and six red optical eyes glowing brightly from its head. The two sharpened claws spring open as three purple Overlay Unit orbs rotate around the monster.

"So, he's an Xyz user," Gongenzaka claimed.

"There's no mistake it," said Yasuko. "That's the guy who attacked me."

"No doubt about it," Yuya agreed. "That's the same monster who defeated the LDS's elite team."

"But how?" Zuzu questioned. "How did he defeat them with only 100 ATK points? It can barely beat a fly."

Yasuko turned to Zuzu and said, "Don't underestimate a monster by its attack points." She turns back to the rise falcon flying above Shun. "That monster's got one effect that is crazy."

Despite its menacing appearance, the monster doesn't prove to be a threat to Sora, who accuses it of being a pest. "This is what you've come up with?" he questioned teasingly. "You can't be serious."

"Deadly serious," Shun replied. "Raidraptor – Rise Falcon can attack at one for every monster that was Special Summoned on the field."

"Even if you attack all of my monsters, it only has 100 ATK points," Sora taunted.

Yasuko can see how narrow-minded Sora is being when dueling against someone determined to win like Shun. "Oh, believe me, Sora," she whispered. "You haven't seen anything yet."

Yasuko saw Yuya getting up from his seat, worried about what Shun is about to do next. "Be careful, Sora!" he warned. "He's dangerous."

Sora doesn't seem to know how worried Yuya is feeling and waves back at him. "Yuya!" he called. "Don't worry about it! I'm fine! I know what I'm doing!"

Shun points at his rise falcon. "I activate Rise Falcon's special effect!" he exclaimed. "By using one Overlay Unit, it gains the total of _all_ your Special Summoned monsters!" One of the purple Overlay units burst like a bubble to activate the rise falcon's special ability.

 **(Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: OU 3** → **2)**

The six optical eyes glow red as the monster absorbs the red light from the nightmare bear to gain a significant power boost.

 **(Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: ATK 100 + 2200 = 2300)**

The shock on Sora's face can tell Yasuko that the boy is not prepared for dealing with a monster such as rise falcon. "2300 ATK points?!" he gasped.

The You-Show are also shocked that the rise falcon is stronger than even the nightmare bear was weak against something like the rise falcon.

Yasuko wasn't surprised by the rise falcon's abilities. After her experience with the monster first-hand, she can suspect that Sora is unprepared to deal with Shun. "Yep, he's screwed," she murmured.

"Battle!" Shun declared. "Rise Falcon, attack Frightfur Bear! Brave Claw Revolution!" The rise falcon blazes like it was on fire as it soars into the sky before swooping down to decapitate the nightmare bear. The sight of the attack causes the audience to wheel in shock at the brutality of the battle.

The destruction of the nightmare bear sends Sora flying, screaming in pain after taking damage.

 **(Sora: LP 3200** → **3100)**

Sora skidded across the field that would give him back pains after the match.

Yasuko could expect Sora to get hurt at the end of the match because not only did he used Fusion in front of Shun, but his Xyz monster is out on the field, which makes it a deadly threat to him. She knows that rise falcon can attack all Special Summoned monsters and gain their attack points to make it even more powerful than all of the monsters combined.

Sora gets back up to watch Shun take out four cards from his hand and Sets them all on the field. "I Set four cards face-down and end my turn," he concluded. "Rise Falcon's ATK points return to normal." The rise falcon hovers above Shun by an inch with all of the attack power that it gained vanishing quickly.

 **(Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: ATK 2300** → **100)**

 **Turn 5: Sora (2x cards)**

Yasuko wonders how Sora will be able to play through the monster that has the weakest attack points, but also the back row that filled up the entire Spell and Trap Zone. Shun is being cautious with his opponent. However, Yasuko felt that Shun is holding back against Sora and may be hiding something.

Sora wipes the scratch from his cheek with a small smirk. "What you did was interesting," he smiled. "Looks like you finally figured out how to put up a show." He flips up to stand back on his two feet. "In that case, I think it's time for a little plot twist; I'd better get a little bit serious." He starts to make a grin that only caught Yasuko's attention.

The girl makes a gape from her mouth when she saw Sora's smile. At first, Sora seems to be smiling because Shun is getting him to duel seriously, but then, when Yasuko looked at Sora, she can't help but notice something else that's bothering her now: Sora's smile. Yasuko diverted her attention from Shun to Sora who's smile might borderline to being psychotic.

"My turn!" Sora draws a card from his deck. "I draw!" He Normal Summons **Edge Imp Saw (ATK 500/DEF 100)**. A giant buzz saw with multiple hacksaws, and two bright pink eyes appear on the field. "When it is successfully summoned, I can discard one Fluffal monster from my hand to draw two cards." He discards his **Fluffal Sheep** in his hand to the graveyard to draw two cards. He looks at his hand to see that he has drawn **Edge Imp Chains** and the Spell Card: **Fusion Conscription**. He picks the spell card to activate it.

"Nice," Sora commented. "I activate the spell card from my hand, Fusion Conscription!" Sora selects a card from his deck and chooses to add it. "This card lets me add one Fusion Material monster from my deck to my hand!" Sora decides to add himself a **Fluffal Leo**. He starts to grin once his preparation is complete.

Sora turns around to face the audience. "Now, watch closely!" he beamed. "Put a spotlight on me, please!" A spotlight from the stadium shines upon Sora. "The fun is about to get started!" he announced Yuya's catchphrase.

Yasuko was starting to get more annoyed with everyone trying to be like Yuya and not be themselves. "Okay, this is getting annoying," she said. "I don't like people trying to copy out their own style."

"I activate the Continuous Spell, Frightfur Factory from my hand!" Sora activates the Continuous Spell Card: **Frightfur Factory**. "I banish my Polymerization from my graveyard to Fusion Summon one Fusion monster! I fuse my Edge Imp Sawand Fluffal Leo from my hand!" The second material is a stuffed yellow lion with angel wings. Many of the kids were enchanted by the adorable stuffed lion. The devil saw, and the stuffed lion floats above Sora and enters into the swirling vortex of purple and yellow, mixing them together.

" _The steel teeth that house the devil, merge with the beast that bears its fangs, and show your new power and look! I_ _ **Fusion Summon!**_ _Appear, the king of beasts that slashes everything! Frightfur Leo!"_ Sora Fusion Summon **Frightfur Leo (ATK 2400/DEF 1000)** in Attack Position. The monster that Sora summoned is a dark, twisted version of the stuffed lion with magenta razor-sharp claws and teeth and has a buzz saw head as its mane with other saws, and a buzz saw body. The image of the devil lion is making the scare out of the kids.

Shun knows what might come to happen next and about-faces to start running away.

Sora seems to be satisfied seeing Shun fleeing from him. "Are you scare?" he taunted. "Don't you wanna play?"

Shun runs in the opening as rise falcon flies down to let the boy grab its claws. The monster flies higher into the sky.

"It's pointless to run away," said Sora. "Frightfur Leo's special effect activates! Once per turn, it can destroy one monster on your field, and you take damage equal to its ATK points!" The saw lion shoots multiple buzz saws at Shun and his rise falcon. The buzz saws fly like missiles, aiming to hit the rise falcon before it can evade. Shun's monster turns left and right, up and down, and zooms right in between two buildings to avoid each of the buzz saws that nearly hit Shun. The projectiles were thrown off course before it reconfigures itself to form three bigger buzz saws that will surely hit the rise falcon.

As the monster flies into the opening, something gleams off from the window ledges. Shun's eyes are as sharp as an eagle, spotting the Action Card. He lets go of the rise falcon and falls over to swipe an Action Card that was hanging on by the window still.

"I activate the Action Spell, Mirror Barrier!" Shun activates the Action Spell Card: **Mirror Barrier**. "Your card's destruction effect is negated!"

The rise falcon glides to catch Shun just as a mirror force field appears to surround the monster. The three buzz saws are deflected from the mirror forcefield, much to Sora's shock. The saw lion was suddenly entrapped by four mirrors which infuriated the monster.

The You-Show people were astounded by Shun's ability to spot even the Action Card when he was being chased by the buzz saw.

"He even mastered Action Cards," said Frederick.

"He wasn't just running away," Allie replied.

Yasuko finds it intriguing that Shun was able to anticipate Sora stealing his monster and had the face-down already to prevent him from taking one of his own. Not to mention the way how Shun spotted the Action Card in thin air. "Impressive," she commented.

"Do it, Frightfur Leo!" Sora called.

The saw lion obeys his command and fires up its buzz saw mane, breaking through the mirror cage before it continues onward to tackle the wall in one of the buildings. The lion was using its saw mane to cut and slice through the walls until it breaks into the opening where the rise falcon is located.

"Even though it's a Solid Vision, you shouldn't carelessly destroy everything," Nico advised.

Shun can only glare down at the saw lion down before on the ground.

"I'll admit," said Sora, "grabbing that Action Card to protect you and that monster was a nice try, but too bad. You can't escape the king of the beast that slashes everything." Sora's grin comes back. "Leo has 2400 ATK points, so if it destroys a monster with only 100 ATK points, then you'll take big damage, which means your wings are about to get clipped."

Sora points at the rise falcon above him. "Let's battle!" he declared. "Frightfur Leo, attack Rise Falcon!" The saw lion sprints fast before jumping up with is razor-sharp claws ready to slice the rise falcon.

"I activate the Trap, Adversity!" Shun flips up his face-down Trap Card: **Adversity**. "When you attack my monster that has less ATK points than yours, destruction and damage is negated, and it gains 1000 ATK points!"

The saw lion brings its claws down to slice the rise falcon, but it only pushes it downwards because of the trap card's effect. Not only did Shun managed to save his monster, but rise falcon gets a power boost.

 **(Raidraptor** – **Rise Falcon: ATK 100** → **1100)**

"What?!" Sora gasped. "No way!"

Yasuko can't seem to figure out Shun's real abilities. She thought that Shun was an Xyz specialist and an expert in Traps to nullify anything that his opponent throws at him, but he is displaying proficiency in his duel. "Well, this can't be good for Sora," said Yasuko.

Speaking of Sora, Yasuko turns to watch something happen with Sora. Sora seems to be in a foul mood. He was stomping his feet like a whining child, throwing a tantrum.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" Sora cursed. "I swear to god, I'll _definitely_ get that monster next time!" He points at the rise falcon, determined to destroy the monster in his next turn. "I end my turn!"

 **Turn 6: Shun (1x card)**

Yasuko wanted to focus on Shun, but she was directing her attention between Sora and Shun at the same time. Sora is starting to not act like himself. The duel between Sora and Shun seems to have grown intense, causing Sora to temporarily lose his happy face. If she was dueling against Shun right now, she wouldn't crack like what Sora did. She is starting to see something that she doesn't know about Sora.

She wasn't the only one who was surprised by Sora's tantrum. The You-Show people and Gongenzaka were both startled by Sora throwing a fit.

"Whoa," said Yuya, also grasping the image of Sora's tantrum. "Sora's not too happy about that. He's usually relaxed like Yasuko."

"This is the first time I've seen him so angry," Zuzu stated. "I've never seen him so irritated before."

"Shimmer down! Don't lose your cool, Sora!" Shuzo cheered. "Even if your heart burns, your head must remain cool! Only burn your heart, Sora!"

Sora turns to the You-Show audience and waves at them with a huge smile. "Don't worry!" he beamed. "It's all good! I just lost it for a second! I'm fine now! I'm having fun!"

The smile on Sora's face can fool anyone, including the You-Show and Gongenzaka, but it cannot deceive Yasuko anymore. From the moment Sora throws a tantrum, she was already onto him. She notices how Shun is still cool-headed while Sora is starting to get irritated. She suspects that Shun is probably toying with Sora, holding back his raw strength to make him crack his true inner self. The duel with Shun Obsidian is starting to pressure Sora. Yasuko wants to see if the duel with Shun will make Sora crack open even more and show her his real face. Even the way how Sora faced away from the You-Show and Gongenzaka can tell her otherwise. She can guess that Sora probably loses his smile and replace them with a frown, ready to duel Shun seriously.

"My turn!" Shun draws a card from his deck. "I activate Rise Falcon's special effect." One of the Overlay Units around the rise falcon bursts like a bubble.

 **(Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: OU 2** → **1)**

"By using one Overlay Unit, it gained your Special Summoned monster's ATK points until the End Phase." The saw lion glows purple aura around its body before the energy was sucked by the rise falcon to give itself a power boost.

 **(Raidraptor – Rise Falcon: ATK 1100** → **3500)**

"Let's battle!" Shun declared. "Rise Falcon, attack Frightfur Leo!"

The rise falcon screeches loud enough to create a supersonic screech attack at the saw lion.

Sora starts running up and wall-runs up to the tree. "Guess again, Shun!" he called. "I won't let you!" His finger swipes an Action Card that was stuck between two branches. "I activate the Action Spell, Evasion!" Sora activates the Action Spell Card: **Evasion**.

"That's pointless," Shun stated. "It won't work." Shun flips up his Counter Trap Card: **Dark Illusion**. "I activate the Counter Trap! Dark Illusion," he said. "When a Spell, Trap, or monster effect targets a DARK monster, I can negate and destroy it."

Sora's duel disk blares off two loud beeps to reject the activation of the Action Spell and sends it to the graveyard. Sora was shocked that Shun had come prepared even for cards that could negate anything that targets a DARK monster.

The saw lion was hit with the supersonic screech and blows up, sending Sora flying back, which knocked the lollipop out of his mouth.

 **(Sora: LP 3100** → **2000)**

Sora's body skidded across the ground until he stops, laying in pain after taking the damage.

"Sora!" Yuya and Zuzu called out.

Shun takes out one card from his hand and then Sets it. "I Set a card face-down and end my turn," he concluded. "Rise Falco's effect ends, so it's ATK points return to normal." Once Shun's End Phase comes, the rise falcon loses its attack power to revert back to its original.

 **(Raidraptor** – **Rise Falcon: ATK 3500** → **1100)**

 **Turn 7: Sora (1x card)**

Yasuko thought of the last trap card. _"That's odd,"_ she thought. " _If Shun had activated that Trap card before Leo could destroy his rise falcon with its effect, he could've saved him time and resources, but he activated right now."_ Her eyes narrowed at Shun, thinking more regarding what kind of play that Shun is doing. " _It's like he's underestimating Sora, or he expects something out of him."_

Sora starts to pry himself back up, but he was already losing his cool. Yasuko can see the frustration that was beginning to build up. It's only a matter of time before Sora cracks and shows her his true face.

"Sora, are you okay?" Yuya called.

Yasuko is sure that Yuya's call isn't getting through to Sora. She can see that Sora is now determined to take down Shun.

"Sheesh, this guy is starting to annoy me," Sora growled. "How many of my monsters has he destroyed?" The way Sora is frowning at Shun means that he's almost reaching to breaking point. "That's it! I've been too easy on you, Shun! I won't be a little serious anymore! This time, I'm going full serious now!" Sora takes out a green lollipop and rips the wrapping with his mouth before prying it in.

"My turn!" Sora draws a card from his deck.

"I activate the Spell, Fusion Deployment!" Sora activates the Spell Card: **Fusion Deployment**. "This card lets me reveal one Fusion monster from my Extra Deck, and then Special Summon one Fusion Material whose name is listed on the monster that I revealed!" Sora reveals his Fusion Monster: **Frightfur Sheep** to Special Summon **Fluffal Sheep (ATK 400/DEF 800)** in Defense Position. "I reveal my Frightfur Sheep to Special Summon my Fluffal Sheep from my deck!"

Sora takes out the card and then summons a fluffy orange sheep with angel wings who makes a cute long "baa" noise. "Then, I activate the Continuous Spell, Frightfur Factory's effect!" he declared. "I banish a "Fusion" card in its name to Fusion Summon one Frightfur monster!" Sora banishes his **Fusion Conscription** to fuse **Fluffal Sheep** and **Edge Imp Chains** from his hand. "I fuse Fluffal Sheep on my field and Edge Imp Chains from my hand!"

The stuffed sheep and the devil with multiple chains as its body appear inside of the swirling vortex of red and blue.

" _I_ _ **Fusion Summon!**_ " Sora exclaimed. " _Appear, the chained beast that seals everything! Frightfur Sheep!_ " Sora Fusion Summons **Frightfur Sheep (ATK 2000/DEF 2000)**. The stuffed sheep was suddenly being turned into a nightmare version of itself with two gears sticking out from the fur supported by silver chains and a set of golf chains wrapped around the center.

"When this card attacks, you cannot activate cards or effects until the end of the Damage Step!" Sora informed. "I've sealed away your best tactics, so that really puts you up the ropes."

Yasuko was intrigued if Shun has a counter against something like the chain sheep. She can see that Sora is getting serious in the duel, but she wonders if Sora has what it takes to beat Shun. "Cool," Yasuko commented, "but will that be enough?"

"Let's battle!" Sora declared. "Go, Frightfur Sheep! Attack Rise Falcon!" The chain sheep chatters its jaws before opening them to fire a red laser beam at the rise falcon.

Shun has his monster soar high in the sky, but the red laser beam was on his tail, curving around to get a lock on its target. The rise falcon moves up, trying to evade, but to no avail. The red laser beam hits the rise falcon, destroying it with a big explosion.

 **(Shun: LP 3100** → **2200)**

Yasuko watches Shun falling from the sky with his eyes closed. She can't expect that Shun would lose something so quickly. Shun seems to snap out of himself and starts to kick off from one building after another to slow himself down. Once he hits the ground, he makes a parkour roll to stop the momentum.

"You think you _outplayed_ me just because you destroyed my monster?" Shun questioned, dusting himself off. "Well, now that your monster attacked, that means its effect is gone."

"What?" Sora gasped.

Shun prepares himself to activate the _specific_ card that he picked up earlier on his first turn. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Rank-Up-Magic Raptor's Force!" Shun activates the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Rank-Up-Magic Raptor's Force**. "It Special Summons Rise Falcon that was destroyed in battle, and then allows me to rank it up into a Raidraptor that is one Rank higher!"

"What the hell?!" Sora gasped in shock.

The rise falcon that was destroyed in the last battle appears back on the field before turning into a purple light and shooting up into the thunder clouds.

" _Ferocious falcon, cut through the fiercest battles wand flap your wings to defeat your approaching enemies!_ _ **Rank-Up Xyz Change**_ _! Appear! Rank 5! Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon!"_ Shun performs a Rank-Up Xyz Evolution and Xyz Summons **Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon (ATK 1000/DEF 2000)** **(OU: 1)** in Attack Position.

The thunder clouds booms into the sky above the field spell as a new monster appears on the field. The rise falcon has transformed into a blazing red falcon with two claw feet, and two long wings that come from the backbone of the monster with eight teal optical eyes lighting up as a single purple Overlay Unit roves around the monster. The blaze falcon screeched, which shook the entire stadium.

Yasuko was beyond flabbergasted; she was astounded. She had no idea that you can use a Spell card to perform an Xyz Summon of an Xyz monster that is a higher rank than the other one. Her throat seemed dry. Her eyes are wide. She is just as shocked as everyone else in the stadium. "Rank up?" she uttered.

"Whoa! The Xyz monster that was supposed to be destroyed, but it's reborn into a higher Rank monster!" Nico announced.

Sora was taken back by the monster that is in front of him, and then he started to laugh. His laughter echoed in the stadium as if he's enjoying the sight himself. "Nice! Sleek moves, Shun!" he praised. "You're quite an entertainer yourself! Thanks for firing up the crowd! They sure are loving it!"

Yasuko is starting to put the pieces together. Sora is not the same person that she knew right now. He's a different Sora than before. She can see that whatever Shun did made him crack the slightest hole inside of him.

"You know, I hate to admit it, but I'm loving it too," Sora confessed. "I end my turn. Now, keep entertaining me."

"Entertain?" Shun inquired. "I highly doubt you're going to find agony, pain, and destruction to be entertaining."

Shun draws a card from his deck. "My turn!" he exclaimed. "Blaze Falcon can attack directly if it has an Xyz Material!" The blaze falcon monster glides down to close in on Sora.

The little boy attempts to flee and find an Action Card, but the boy was knocked back by the blaze falcon, sending him crashing into a building that left a large hole in the wall, dealing battle damage to him.

 **(Sora: LP 2000** → **1000)**

The impact of Sora's crash leaves a large crack that spirals upwards until the entire upper building started to break. The upper segment was collapsing as it falls over to Sora.

"Whoa! The building is collapsing! Look out!" Nico called.

"Sora!" Yuya yelled.

Sora looks up and saw the building falling on top of him. He acts quickly and makes a move. Leaping into the air, Sora quickly vaults from pieces of debris after another as if he's too quick for the falling debris. He hops over the first debris before jumping over another, even as if they are falling. It was astounding, even to Yasuko. Not even she can do what Sora is doing. She may be training in parkour, but there was no way in hell that she can do exactly like Sora.

"What the…" she breathed, amazed at how agile Sora is.

Sora lands with a sneer on his face as the building crashes to the ground behind him while Yasuko, Yuya, and Zuzu watch in shock.

"Blaze Falcon's special effect activates!" Shun called. "When this card successfully deals damage, your monster is destroyed!" The blaze falcon responds by launching all of its bits into the air and shoots turquoise laser beams to destroy the chain sheep.

"Trap activated!" Sora responded. "Frightfur Defender!" Sora activates the Trap Card: **Frightfur Defender**. "My Frightfur Sheep's destruction is negated, and it gains 800 ATK points!" A forcefield surrounds the chain sheep, deflecting every laser beam that is aimed at it.

"I activate my Counter Trap! Raptor's Storm!" Shun responds by activating the Counter Trap Card: **Raptor's Storm**. "When a Spell or Trap card activates while I control a Raidraptor, it negates and destroys it!" The forcefield that was blocking the barrage of the laser beam was destroyed along with the monster.

"Frightfur Sheep's special effect activates!" Sora called. "When this card is destroyed by battle or card effect, I can Special Summon it back onto my field, and it gains 800 ATK points!"

The dust and debris reform itself together to bring back the china sheep, but much stronger than before.

 **(Frightfur Sheep: ATK 2000** → **2800)**

"Shun destroys Sora's sheep, but it came back stronger than before!" Nico praised.

"I don't care how powerful that sheep is!" Shun retorted. "I activate Blaze Falcon's special effect!" The last purple Overlay Unit bursts like a bubble to activate its special ability.

 **(Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon: OU 1** → **0)**

"Once per turn, by detaching one Overlay Unit, this card can destroy as many of your Special Summoned monsters, and you take 500 points of damage for each one!" The blaze falcon opens its ports in the back and launches a volley of missiles at the chain sheep.

"No way!" Sora protested. "I won't let you!" Sora turns to his right and quickly swiped an Action Card. "I activate the Acton Spell, Mirror Barrier!" Sora activates the Action Spell Card: **Mirror Barrier**. "Your card's destruction is negated!"

A mirror forcefield appears around the chain sheep to block off all of the missiles that are aimed at it.

"He protected himself with an Action Card!" Nico boomed. "It's the same previous Mirror Barrier used by Shun Obsidian!"

"I flip up my Counter Trap! Raptor's Gust!" Shun activates the Counter Trap Card: **Raptor's Gust**. "When I control a Raidraptor monster, your spell's activation is negated and destroyed!"

The missile volley continues to hammer down on the chain sheep and the mirror forcefield until the pressure was enough to break through the mirror shield and destroy the chain sheep. The explosion cause Sora to fall back after taking another damage to his life points.

 **(Sora: LP 1000** → **500)**

The back-and-forth counterattacks are rallying the crowd to a new height. Some of the little kids were frightened by the sheer destruction, while some were excited to see more of the battle raging on.

Yasuko witnesses the once-beautiful Neo Heartland City being turned into a no man's land. The sky is being filled with smoke and fire as if the city itself was a battlefield. She doesn't say much. Their actions are speaking louder than words.

"I Set a card face-down and end my turn," Shun concluded as he Sets a face-down.

 **Turn 9: Sora (0x card)**

"So, what happened to that smirk on your face?" Shun questioned.

Sora is surprised at first before clenching his fist angrily, glaring a Shun.

"Now, do you know what it feels like to be helpless and hunted?" Shun asked. "You were always laughing when you attacked my friends, but the difference between you and us, though, is that we are no longer prey that won't resist!"

Yasuko was a bit confused about what Shun was talking about, but she suspects that it has to do something with Fusion or whatever Yuto or Shun called them. Hunted? Prey? She has more questions popping in her head.

"Sora's team attacked?" Yuya inquired. "What's he talking about?"

Sora gives a giggle before it turned to smile like a wild animal. "What? I'm no longer relaxed?" he sneered. "You think I'm through? Stop joking around." Sora takes out a big lollipop from his pocket. "I can win even when I eat this candy." He holds up a large lollipop and bites it in half, chewing loudly and swallowing in front of Shun.

"You're even a bigger sucker than I thought you were," Sora mocked. "Poor Shun, you think you still have a chance? Well, here's a reality check, pal!" Sora takes one more bite at the lollipop. "This is all for fun. I don't need to take you seriously. Even my teammates feel the same thing. We're hunting you for fun because all you are is nothing but prey in our hunting game!"

Sora's personality change disturbs the You-Show and Gongenzaka.

"Now Sora's acting crazy," Yuya accused. "What the heck's going on between the two of them?"

"My turn!" Sora draws a card from his deck. "I activate the Spell, Frightfur Fusion!" He activates the Spell Card: **Frightfur Fusion**. "I banish Frightfur Bear, Leo, and Sheep from my graveyard to Fusion Summon one Frightfur monster that requires all three of them!"

The three monstrous toys that were in Sora's graveyard disappears, and their essences are consumed by the dark swirling vortex that reanimates itself into a different monster.

" _The inanimate toy that that houses the devil, annihilate all those who oppose me! I_ _ **Fusion Summon**_ _! Appear! The magical beast that's a combination of all toys! Frightfur Chimera!"_ Sora banishes his **Frightfur Bear** , **Frightfur Leo** , and **Frightfur Sheep** to Fusion Summon **Frightfur Chimera (ATK 2800/DEF 2000)** in Attack Position.

The monster is the combination of all the monstrous toys that Sora fused together with three heads: one being a half body of the stuffed bear; the second head having an orange stuff cat head with pieces sticking out and a wrench, and the third head who looks like it was a handmade dog head as it stomps on the ground with all four of its anvil hoofs.

The image of the monster is frightening the little kids. While many were distraught of Sora's monster, the only ones who weren't fazed by the monster were Yasuko and Shun.

"Let's battle!" Sora declared gleefully. "Frightfur Chimera, attack Blaze Falcon!"

The toy chimera's bear head opens its jaws and fires a big rocket that obliterated the blaze falcon and some of the surrounding buildings.

Shun runs away and avoids the falling debris as he jumps and rolls out of the way from the explosion once it dealt significant damage to him.

 **(Shun: LP 2200** → **400)**

"Frightfur Chimera's special effect activates!" Sora exclaimed. "When it destroys a monster, it summoned it to my side of the field from your graveyard!" The toy chimera glows purple to allow Sora to Special Summon **Raidraptor – Blaze Falcon** on his side of the field. The blaze falcon that Sora destroyed reappears on Sora's field. "For every monster that I take control of using this effect, Frightfur Chimera gains a total of 300 ATK points for each one!" The toy chimera gains a power boost thanks to its special effect.

 **(Frightfur Chimera: ATK 2800** → **3100)**

"Even your monster belongs to me," said Sora. "Now, do you see, Shun? Weaklings like you can't win. You can't hunt me." Sora's smile was turning psychotic. "That's why you're so much fun to hunt down and destroy! Always were! Always will! You're the ones who will be hunted for eternity!"

The duel has reached to breaking point, and Sora snapped, which means Yasuko can finally see for who Sora really is. She discovered the truth behind his fake happy character. Sora is a lie. The moment she saw the smile on Sora's face after Shun Xyz Summoned his rise falcon, she was already onto him. And when the duel progress even further, the duel tells Yasuko everything she needs to know about Sora. Based on how Sora's behavior changed drastically to a very unstable mind, the happy façade of Sora breaks down to reveal his psychotic nastiness. Now that Sora is revealed to be a deranged lunatic; she does not want anything to do with him anymore.

"Sora Perse, you're a psychopath," she whispered under her breath, acknowledging every last word of him.

"I'll make sure to finish you off with your own monster," Sora smirked. "You have only 400 life points, so if Blaze Falcon attacks you directly with 1000 ATK points, this will end the duel."

"How ridiculous," Shun insulted. "No, it won't."

"What?" Sora gasped, surprised.

"We, the Resistance, always battle assuming the worst possible situations," said Shun. "We even think about our teammates being taken by the enemy, but even if they are taken, we never forsake them."

Shun's eyes burn with such hatred that made Yasuko and Yuya pause in their waking. "We always get our teammates back!" he shouted. "I activate the Quick-Play Spell, Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force!" Shun activates the Quick-Play Spell Card: **Rank-Up-Magic Revolution Force**. "I take control of one Xyz monster on your field that has no Xyz Materials, and then I rank it up to a Raidraptor that's one Rank higher!"

The blaze falcon that was on Sora's field disappears into particles, forcing the toy chimera to lose its attack boost.

 **(Frightfur Chimera: ATK 3100** → **2800)**

The blaze falcon configures itself back on Shun's field before it blazes itself to evolve to a higher monster.

"What?!" Sora gasped.

" _Proudest falcon, flap your wings that are stained with the blood of the friends and heroes and travel to the path of destruction!_ _ **Rank-Up! Xyz Change!**_ _Emerge! Rank 6! Raidraptor – Revolution Falcon!_ " Shun performs a second Rank-Up Xyz Evolution to Xyz Summon **Raidraptor – Revolution Falcon (ATK 2000/DEF 3000)** in Attack Position.

The blaze falcon transforms into a bigger falcon that has ten thrusters as wings and no legs or claws but ports all over the wings and red-crested face and a single purple Overlay Unit roving around the monster. The revolution falcon gives off a hollow screech after making its appearance.

"Incredible!" Nico praised. "Shun Obsidian's Xyz monster ranked up the second time!"

Sora was shocked that Shun ranked up his monster for the second time, but he finds the monster to be no threat, at least to him anyway. He gives a laugh. "Ha. Nice try, Shun," he smiled. "You talk of a big revolution, but your monster has only 2000 ATK points." He makes a laugh again to see how much he's underestimating Shun's abilities. "It can't destroy my Frightfur Chimera that has 2800 ATK points!"

"Are you sure about that?" Shun questioned. "Just watch me."

Sora flinches in fright before recomposing himself. "You're bluffing," he accused. "Just another one of your bluffs, Shun. You have no more Set cards on your field. You talk a big game, but take a look around; you don't have what it takes to win."

Yasuko can see how much Sora is underestimating Shun and his monster. It was already set in motion for his defeat.

Yuya got up from his seat and holds onto the railings. "Stop! Don't provoke him!" he warned. "He's dangerous! He's serious! Just walk away!"

"Forget it, Yuya," Yasuko rebuked. "No matter what you say or do, there's no point in talking to him anymore." She closes her eyes and crossed her arm, already foreseeing what is about to happen next. "He lost."

Yuya turns to Yasuko in shock. "What are you talking about?" he inquired. "Sora hasn't lost just yet!"

Yasuko opens both eyes and narrowed at Yuya. "No, he lost the moment Shun ranked up," she affirmed.

"Revolution Falcon's special effect activates!" Shun called. "When it ranks up using a Raidraptor monster, it destroys your Special Summoned monster, and you take damage equal to half of its ATK points!"

"Oh, no!" Sora wailed.

"Go, Revolution Falcon!" Shun ordered. "Burn! Blaze! Torch the enemy! Burn in the fires of revolution and perish!"

The revolution falcon soars high into the ski above Neo Heartland City. Its ports open to reveal an arsenal of bombs and weapons. Like a heavy strategic bomber, the revolution falcon drops its entire payload over the field, destroying everything in sight from its carpet bombing. The multiple explosions obliterated every building, playground, and lights from the city, turning it into nothing but ruins of the one beautiful city.

"Stop it!" Yuya pleaded. "This isn't a duel! The duel that I believe in is to make everyone happy!"

The carpet bombing destroys everything that resembles the city, and now the toy chimera is destroyed in ablaze.

Sora flees to find himself an Action Card as the carpet bombing was coming closer to him. He swings left and right until he finds one Action Card lying around. He dives down and swipes the Action Card: **Miracle**. Before he can insert the card into his duel disk, something shakes hard to get his attention.

He was distracted by the falling Heartland Tower. He freezes in shock, merely kneeling there as the building crashes to the ground.

 _CRASH!_

Zuzu gasps in shock.

"Sora!" Yuya screamed

Yasuko makes a cringe from the way how Sora was crushed by a two hundred-thousand-pound building. "Oh, that's gotta hurt," she commented.

Dust and debris spread everywhere in the field before the Action Field Spell disintegrates back into the glass arena with Sora all battered and bruised up after taking the major damage that ends his life points.

 **(Sora: LP 500** → **0)**

 **Winner: Shun Obsidian**

The duel left its mark on the audience. Everyone was scared, frightened of how the duel turned out at the end of the day. No one spoke about what they saw. They were taken out of their breaths.

Yasuko can feel the tense moment inside of the stadium, watching Shun approaching to Sora. At first, he looked like he was about to do something with his duel disk, but then he stopped and turned around to walk away.

"Wait…" Sora croaked. "The…the battle is not over yet…"

Shun glance over his shoulder to see the struggle that Sora is putting up to fight him again. "There is no way I can…I can lose," he squawked. "I can't…I can't lose to an Xyz!"

Shun just watched him beg for another match, but he just continued walking away. "No, wait!" Sora begged. "Don't run away! I…I want a rematch! Duel me again! You have to duel me! Duel me again!"

Yasuko can hear Sora begging for Shay to Duel him again, but he finally passes out from the shock of his injuries. Yuya and Zuzu were running down to the arena, but the security personnel held them back. After watching the match between Shun and Sora, Yasuko has decided that she is done with Sora. He is now a psychopath in her eyes. Yasuko is severing all ties with Sora Perse.

As for Shun Obsidian, her mind is now processing the information from both duelists and their capabilities. Shun is a bigger danger than she thought he was. Yasuko compared herself to Shun, and the duel proves to be a different league than her own. She believes that she needs to make some adjustments to her deck for any future confrontations with Shun Obsidian.

* * *

 **Hello readers!**

 **I'd say I post a second chapter to make it all up for last month's delay, so here is a second chapter. I'd find this duel to be entertaining because I like the way how Sora and Shun dukes it out that made Sora crack in the middle of the duel, and I thought I want to rewrite this even further. I'm still going for the unrestricted duels in some of the rewrites but try to put together an entertaining one myself.**

 **Oh, and also, HunterHQ, Ghost of Magic, Lux, and Guests.**

 **Thank you for your reviews. There are some more dueling coming up soon, and I will make them as intriguing and entertaining as possible. Thank you other readers for taking the time to read this story through as we get even closer to the climax of the story, and boy I am going to make this story blow your minds. Have a great day!**


End file.
